Bright as Night
by Listelia
Summary: Everything went black. Albus didn't know anymore where he was - who he was. And in this darkness, where only throbbed the bite in his chest, a green and golden eye was looking at him. (His fourth year at Hogwarts is easy, happy, no troubles. Albus Potter never asked to be special. But, well, he IS. And things won't ever be the same...)
1. Fly high, fall big

**FLY HIGH, FALL BIG**

* * *

Albus gave a piece of meat to the white owl perched on his shoulder. She greedily gobbled her reward and rolled her round eyes with a satisfied hooting, before returning to one of the high beams of the aviary.

The boy watched her fly off with a smile, then sat on the large arched windows. He pulled up a knee, let his other leg dangling outside, slipped the tip of his wand in the corner of the envelope and tore the flap.

His head leaning against the old ancestral stones, he began to read, savoring the tangy breeze that rippled through his thick black hair.

**_"Dear Al,_**

**_Since your mum is not yet back from the ministry of magic, I'll quickly send this letter before she takes up all the space with her recommendations! Our owl refused to carry the mail, last time, for there were too many pages ... No, just kidding. I just thought you and I should have a man to man talk, for once._**

**_I will contact the Swansons, try to get organize for this summer. I think it will be good for you to spend the holidays at your friend's and find out a little more about the Muggles. Your grandfather will be so very envious! But I'm sure you two will have more to share after this experience!_**

**_Will Wendy spend her summer there as well? I'm not going to give you a speech about bees like your mother did to James when he first began to be interested in a girl, but I will expect you to be reasonable."_**

Albus blushed and looked up with an embarrassed chuckle.

\- "It's not like I'm _in love_ with her!" he said aloud. "That speech was already ridiculous at the time, and James was three years _younger_ than me now – Dad, _please_. Give me a break."

The owls stared at him with big eyes. One of them turned its head backwards on its neck and hooted, knitting its gray eyebrows.

\- "Sorry... " Albus sighed. "I wasn't talking to you."

Distant loud voices caught his attention. He leaned over to look outside. Far below, in the school yard, some girls were involved in a brawl.

\- "Ouch, ouch, ouch ..." muttered the teenager. "I hope Lily's not part of this mess ..."

He lost interest in the fight from which he could not even grabbed a few snippets of words, put the letter on his lap and looked at the immense sight the highest tower of Hogwarts was giving him.

The flanks of the hill were dressed in soft green and the lake shimmered softly under the spring light. The air smelled good. Even the Forbidden Forest seemed less scary with some fruit trees in blossom scattered in its dark cloak like pastel colored pompoms.

**_"Hogwarts must be beautiful in this season. Quidditch workouts will be more comfortable than this winter, although I heard from someone you perfectly mastered the _****cozy-arse_ spell your uncle - that rascal! - kept a secret for years."_**

Albus chuckled.

\- "Yes, and I'm not the only one who likes the spell! Professor Wood said it was the best thing he ever learnt in years!"

**_"Your mum has already shipped off your birthday present, but I had another idea for you. Fifteen is not just any age, and I wanted to take you somewhere. Just you and me. Would you be okay to skip the next trip to Hogsmead? I think we won't have trouble obtaining permission ..."_**

Albus paused again. Still holding the letter, he thoughtfully rubbed his thumb against his lips. He was quite proud of the manly line his jaw was beginning to shaped in, but he didn't realized his fine features, when he was deep in thought, gave him the poet-lost-on-the-moon look he was trying to get rid of.

\- "Where do you want to take me, Dad? What do you have in mind?"

For James' sixteenth birthday, in July the year before, his parents had let him invite half of the school. They had set up tents in the garden and made the _Trolls of Rotherham_ come. It had taken up three whole days to clean up the house and its surroundings after that. Albus was still shivering at the thought. James was popular and _loved_ having a crowd of people around him. He had been delighted, but his brother was relieved that no one expected him to ask for the same kind of party.

A day with his father during the school term, a trip to a mysterious place that would surely be full of memories, a moment just for the two of them – man to man, heart to heart ... yes, that program seemed much more attractive to Albus.

And he was almost sure he knew what gift his mother had chosen for him.

_This birthday was going to be perfect._

He settled more comfortably against the stone, pulled up his knees and was about to continue reading when the door of the aviary creaked on the floor below. Light steps climbed the stairs four at once, and a head was soon to appear.

\- "Hey, Al '! I knew you'd be here!" said the blond boy with round glasses when he saw his best friend.

The new comer brushed his pants that were coated with cobwebs, took off his glasses and wiped them on the edge of his gray sweater lined with red and yellow stripes. He had blue eyes and an odd quiff on the head. He was just a little smaller than Albus, wore a braided watch bracelet and the laces of his shoes had been replaced by cans lids. His worn leather schoolbag, customized with pin's, hung against his hip, full of books and scrolls. He held under his arm his cauldron smeared with a pinkish substance and, in addition to the multiple ink stains on his fingers, he also had a nice black splash on the cheek.

Albus looked at him thoroughly, then smirked, a little worried.

\- "Terrence Swanson. What on the Moon have you done again? What's in there ? Is it _alive_?"

\- "It's nothing", assured the other boy with a carefree wave. "A silly experience. I got a little ahead of this term lessons, that's all."

Albus fished out of the bag a 7th year potions book.

\- "Hmm?"

\- "What?" retorted the other boy, looking all innocent.

He pushed Albus and sat unceremoniously on the windowsill beside him. He leaned over and patronizingly twitched.

\- "Oh, girls ..." he sighed. "Just to let you know, your sister has just made Gryffindor loose 50 points. She swung a _bat-bogey hex_ onto Alison Corner. Where did she learn that anyway? Professor Curtis was impressed. She gave us ten points for the _quaaality of maaagic_. "

Albus laughed at this perfect imitation of their DADA professor's aristocratic accent, then rolled his eyes.

\- "During last break, my dad blurted out it was the spell my mother was best performing when she was James' age", he replied. "Lily spent all her time training… she didn't leave a single spot safe in the house..."

He sighed.

\- "What did Alison Corner say?"

Terrence shrugged.

\- "Oh, I don't know. Stuff that matters to 2nd year's girls. Anyway, it was beautiful magic - a little scary, but interesting."

He chuckled, sat cross-legged, placing the bag between them.

\- "I keep thinking you were adopted", he added mischievously. "Between your brother who can't spend a day without showing off and your sister's dreadful personality, I don't understand how your parents managed to have a child so eager not to attract trouble such as you, mate. I don't know what you're doing in Gryffindor, frankly. You should be in Hufflepuff."

Albus gave him a slap on the forehead with his letter.

\- "And I've always wondered what a geek like you is doing in Gryffindor! You should be in Ravenclaw."

They giggled. It was an old joke, and not a week could pass without one of the two launching it again.

\- "Well, at least we know _who_ is in Gryffindor without mistake", finally said Terrence who had caught a strand of blond hair and absently broke the forks. "Wendy, for sure."

\- "The Sorting Hat wasn't yet on her head it was already screaming "Gryffindor, Gryffindor" like if it had been stung by a bee!"

The word reminded Albus of his father's words and his cheeks flushed. Terrence arched an eyebrow and leaned forward, scanning him.

\- "What was that? This _thought_, right now ... come on, tell."

Albus squirmed, embarrassed, dodging his best friend's pokes.

\- "Gimme a break, Ter."

The other boy puffed out his cheeks, not fooled for two pennies. He was about to say something when a cavalcade rang through the wooden stairs.

\- "Al! Are you there? Seriously, couldn't ... you ... stay put ... in the co ... common room", complained the girl who appeared at the top of the stairs, panting.

She stopped, hung her helmet onto the ramp and bent over, putting her hands on her Quidditch knee protections to catch her breath.

A long brown ponytail swept on her shoulder. She wore the red and orange uniform of the Gryffindor team and had a band-aid across her nose. Tiny carbuncles shined on her ears and at the corner of her pyramid-shaped left eyebrow. She had gray almond eyes and full lips. Her bangs were plated on top of her head by a flat strip.

Wendy Philips was a bit smaller than the two boys and in fourth year with them.

\- "Don't… you know ... we are ... supposed ... to be ... in workout ... now", she hiccupped in a voice full of reproach. "Wood just spent the last twenty minutes giving us a speech on the virtues of being on time and it's a matter of seconds before he gets on to _sonoris_ and makes sure the whole school knows you're late!"

\- "ALBUS POTTER COME DOWN FROM THE MOON IMMEDIATELY AND GET YOUR BOTTOM TO THE QUIDDITCH PITCH RIGHT NOW!"

\- "What was I saying…" sighed the girl.

Albus hunched his shoulders and got up hurriedly, stuffing the letter and the envelope in his pockets. He rushed down the stairs, followed closely by the two others.

\- "Why didn't you remind me at breakfast?" he reproached, racing down the steps at full speed.

\- "I _did_! And I sent Terrence to get you half an hour ago!" choked the Quidditch player, thrusting into the neck of her sweater the chin guard which twitched against her face.

\- "Sorrrrrrry" chuckled the teenager behind them.

\- "POTTER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SPEND THE REST OF THE WEEK IN THE DUNGEONS MAKE SURE TO BE HERE BEFORE THIRTY SECONDS!"

\- "Troubles, big troubles", the girl muttered between two breaths.

Albus increased the pace, took a tight turn and almost ran over two first years that let out frightened squawks. He threw them an apology over his shoulder, without slowing down.

They ran across the Great Hall, slowing down just enough to not bail remarks when they passed by a teacher, hurried through the immense hallways, got breathlessly to the other side of the lawns, tumbled into the locker room just the time to shout an "_Accio_ Broom" messy but effective, and finally rushed to the Quidditch pitch, red, disheveled and out of breath.

\- "POTTER YOUR HABIT OF BEING LATE WILL BE YOUR DEATH SOme day, ah there you are. I was starting to grow a little impatient", groused the teacher, removing the wand which amplified his voice. "Where was he? No, don't answer, Philips. On your brooms, lads, let's get started. We've lost enough time. No, Potter, no need for you to change clothes."

The other team members obeyed, shaking their heads. Albus was giving around glances of excuse as he got on his broom, but none of the players seemed to really blame him for being late –excepted for of his brother who gave him a flick on the nape when he passed near him.

\- "Let's begin with a three against four", shouted the teacher from the podium. "Philips, you team up with Bones and Shacklebolt, Potter - _James_ – you be the goal keeper for today. No, no complaints. The rest of you cover Potter – the _other_ Potter, King, are you dumb or what? No Snitch for that round. I want you to work on group chase, you showed me the lamest game I've ever seen in my life, last time."

\- "Yet we won!"

\- "Sandeszki, had I rang you, I'd knew it", the professor growled, throwing back the sleeves of his robes that bothered him. He raised a hand, the ball in the other one. "Attention ... play game!"

The quaffle flew straight up to the sky, and then rolled on itself and plunged to the ground, followed almost immediately by the two Bludgers that had sprung from the trunk with smoke geysers.

All brooms charged forward, with the exception of James who remained hovering in front of the large rings.

Jeremy Shacklebolt, who was in his 7th year and the team's captain, grabbed the ball and threw it to Eleanor Bones, humming like if he was playing cards. The two chasers were at home in their usual part. This was not the case for Herveus Sandeszki who loved to protect the goals and kept glancing at James who was yawning widely.

Wendy sat back on her broom and blew her bat to the oncoming bludger, sending it in full speed in the direction of Albus.

\- "Ha!" she snapped with a predatory smile, sweat dripping down her face.

Albus veered gracefully and effortlessly dodged the bludger.

\- "Sorry, Wendy!" he cried happily, waving his hand.

Bruce King struck the other bludger just in time before it hit his teammate.

\- "Focus, Al! If you have no more teeth, you won't be able to try my father's tournedos this summer!" Terrence yelled from the bleachers in where he had settled. His books were scattered around him and he wrote frenetically on a scroll in between two glances to the field.

\- "SANDESZKI GET YOUR FINGERS OUT OF YOUR NOSE AND GET MOVING!"

Albus jumped when the teacher's voice thundered again and dived in pursuit of the quaffle. He was not used to the big ball, but he was aware of the importance of the points scored by the Chasers - including his brother - while he hunted the Snitch during the games.

And he _really_ did not want James to have anything to gloat about, considering his brother had not yet overcome the fact his cadet had become the Seeker the year before, when the 7th year who previously held that position had graduated.

James always spit absolute nonsense about him when they came back home – Albus' late starts in the morning, the immoderate love animals and magical creatures alike vowed him (_his dorm was often invaded by furry roommates and even the amorphous flobberworms themselves wallowed, drooling on his hands, when he gave them lettuce. The owls left him alone the rest of the time, but they never dispatched the mail without stopping to pinch his ear affectionately_), the teachers' habit of comparing Potter-the-trouble-maker and Potter-the-model-student. Fortunately, their parents didn't believe a word his brother said ...

As long as he could stay away from him, Albus felt perfectly fine. He loved James but feared him just as much. As for Lily ... well, she was his little sister. You did not hang out with your 2nd Year sister when you were fourteen years, eleven months and twenty-three days old.

Life at Hogwarts was simple, easy, happy. There were no soulless professor - except for Mr. Binns who was a ghost, but this wasn't a point in this context - no personal vendetta or unjust persecution and it had been a long time since the Slytherins had lost their reputation of being the minions of the Death Eaters whom _History of Magic_ class had once made mention of.

They were not taught much about the war. Not at least of what had been horrible, senseless, cruel, irreversible. They were fed the improvements made by the government and forced to learn by heart the names of the heroes, but they did not know much about Voldemort himself or what had led Harry Potter to go alone against him.

"_Life and Combat of Harry Potter_" was in the 7th year program only and Albus feared and wanted both to get there quickly. He did not particularly like the "oooh" that followed his surname when the professors were calling "Potter" in the Great Hall.

James, obviously, loved the attention.

None of the three children of the hero had obtained details from their father when they had discovered how famous he was during their first year.

Albus thought it was pretty normal. _Actually, really cool_.

Time to know would come. Later.

And what he loved most of all was the fact that his two best friends were Muggle-born. Neither Wendy nor Terrence had heard of Harry Potter before their coming at Hogwarts and they were discovering with his son the deeds of his father's past. These two were not curious - or more accurately, they had decided _not to be curious_ about this very subject, preferring to remain alongside Albus and progress at his pace.

They were sensitive, loyal, funny and passionate.

_Just perfect._

Albus hid a grin as he flew back up, the quaffle under his arm. He loved Quidditch, he loved flying and his heart was beating faster when Wendy Philips was involved in the game. She was strong, she was mad and she was - beautiful.

_A fact he had only discovered upon returning from the Christmas holidays: mystery._

He whirled, threw the ball in the air and sent it into the goals with an agile shove of his broom brush.

\- "Yeaaaaah!" Terrence yelled in the stands in which he was the only audience - with the exception of two cats, three crows and half a dozen spiders which were faithful fans - hopping and projecting black ink all around him.

James let out a muffled curse - he had missed the ball – and focused on the game. On the podium, the teacher raised up his eyebrows.

\- "Thanks Potter, it's now or never", he muttered before seeing something else that made his blood pressure shot up. "KING FOR THE LOVE OF MUD THIS BAT IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE USED AS BACKRUBBERS!"

Wendy giggled, her legs stretched on each side of her broom, her own bat on her shoulder.

Albus dived to the sand that covered the ground, pulled up his broom at the last moment and ascended sharply, tacking between the players of the opposing team to make them lose their sense of direction. He was one with his broom, fast, lithe, sliding with the wind like a comet in a water sky. Blood pulsated against his temples, but his grin was still growing. _Merlin, did he love to fly_. Although he was rather good in most classes - being best friend with a student as gifted as Terrence required from you to learn your lessons if you didn't want to have to feel slow and dumb as a snail - he never had enough confidence.

Except when he was flying.

His heart throttled.

He heard - far, far away - the teacher's voice. He knew soon he would need to resume his place in the game, but for a few seconds, he let himself be carried away by the speed and the imaginary picture of Wendy Philips watching him with her mouth O-shaped.

The image blurred.

For a second, his vision darkened. Surprised - it was the first time since he was riding a broom that it was fast enough to cut his breath - he slowed down.

The Quidditch pitch reappeared, fuzzy. Then faded away again.

_Something was moving in the corner of his left eye. Something big and black, like a piece of torn cloth._

The goals, the wooden turrets with their colorful banners ...

_It was ... a… kind of ..._

The sun dazzled him then veiled again.

_A wing. Some sort of a wing._

He braked and stopped his broom.

The voice of Professor Wood made his way up to his mind. He was shouting, but Albus did not understand what he was saying.

He blinked to get rid of the funny feeling, suddenly realized he had trouble breathing.

And then the pain shot out all of a sudden.

His hand tightened on his chest. He gasped, doubled over.

His ears began to buzz and he did not know anymore where he was.

Everything went black.

And in this darkness, where only throbbed the bite in his chest, a green eye split by a golden diamond was looking at him.

The last thing he heard was Terrence's scream.

* * *

**_TO BE CONTINUED_**

* * *

**_Now, this story is actually a sequel for "Dark as Snow"._**

**_ If you don't want to know what happened in the past, go ahead, it's okay. You'll be deep into mystery and feelings. If you do go back, though, there'll be less mystery as you read "Bright as Night", but I can guarantee there'll be even _more_ feelings._**

**_Your choice.^^_**


	2. This is NOT a tattoo

**THIS IS _NOT_ A TATTOO  
**

* * *

Terrence frowned.

_Something was wrong._

He would have recognize anywhere the way Albus was flying – he had studied it from a critical and very professional point of view and he was the brain behind the aeronautical impressive figures that made the reputation of the second Potter: since he was so quiet and shy, people tended to think Albus was the sissy version of his father and his brother. Terrence had remedied to this by combining the innate gift of his friend and the freestyle aviation manual of his father who was a stuntman.

_Something was definitely off._

Albus was not holding himself up properly and the broom was slightly jerking, as if the control was no longer assured.

\- "Potter, there's no snitch in play, no need to fly at that speed", called the teacher, amused.

Albus must have heard him, as he slowed down, but as if he rode a broken machine: the twitching broom zigzagged.

\- "Potter? You okay?"

Apparently, Mr. Wood had also picked up on the weird way the boy was flying.

Puzzled, the other players stood still to look up at the Seeker - quite happy to take a break. Wendy cast a glance in the direction of Terrence and shivered seeing his worried face turned to their friend.

\- "POTTER WATCH OUT!"

She jumped.

Up there, Albus had clenched a hand on his chest and was wincing as if in pain. He swayed, then suddenly fell off his broom.

\- "AL!"

James - who until then seemed to think his brother drew a little too much attention to himself - suddenly dropped the quaffle and rushed towards the falling silhouette, immediately followed by Jeremy Shacklebolt. The boys caught up Albus, one under the arms, the other by the legs, and slowly carried him to the ground. They laid him on the sand and stood aside to let their teacher through.

\- "Potter, you okay? What happened? Answer!"

\- "Al? What's that?" James asked, kneeling next to his brother and helping him to sit.

The teenager's lips were white, as if all the blood had drained from his face, and his fingers clutched on his sweater.

\- "It ... it hurts ..." he gasped.

\- "Lemme see. Was that a bludger? You might have a bruised rib" said the professor, somewhat relieved. He lifted the boy's shirt, felt the clammy skin. "No ... weird. Looks like you haven't broken anything. Tell me. No one has a heart problem in your family, isn't it?"

James shook his head, while Albus, wincing, tried to calm his breathing.

Terrence slipped between the Quidditch players that looked at their teammate worriedly.

-" I can take him to the infirmary", he said.

The teacher nodded. He hoisted the injured boy to his feet, looked at him up and down.

\- "Can you walk over there, Potter?"

Sweat dripped into the green eyes of Albus and along his nose. His black hair was a mess and he visibly struggled not to cry in front of everyone. He nodded in silence.

\- "All right, then" Professor Wood finally said. "You lads get back the Bludgers and do a series of push-ups. Potter, do you want to go with your brother?"

James hesitated then shook his head.

\- "Then, on your broom. Philips, you too."

His friend's arm around his shoulders, a hand firmly hooked on Albus' belt, Terrence met the eyes of Wendy and cracked a smile to cheer her up.

\- "Can you take our stuff back to the Great Hall?" he asked. "Don't touch what's inside the cauldron, unless you want to say goodbye to your nails."

The girl nodded.

\- "Thanks", said Terrence.

Then he turned to his friend and took a deep breath.

\- "Let's go, mate."

He pushed aside the purring cats rubbing against their legs and whispered words of encouragement tirelessly until they reached the arcades. There, he removed the arm from his shoulders and let Albus sit between two stone windows. He crouched in front of him and gave him a flick on the knee.

\- "You okay? Still alive? Take a break, we're almost there."

The other boy lifted his chin a little, still clutching onto his sweater.

\- "S-sorry."

Students were passing by, chatting, books and scrolls in their arms. A group of 3rd year girls, clucking like chickens, cast glances at them before scampering with whispers. A toad escaped from the grip of a first-year kid and jumped heavily to them, his beady yellow eyes staring in worship at Albus.

\- "Yeah, right", Terrence sighed, rolling his eyes. He gave back the toad to his owner then came back to his friend. "Be sorry my neck hurts from carrying you this _far_. I know you didn't want to look lame, but… say, a stretcher or a levitation spell would have made things easier."

\- "_Wingardium Leviosa_", Albus chuckled, reminded of the old story his uncle had told him dozens of times.

He felt a little better, but laughing was not a good idea and he nearly choked when the pain suddenly intensified.

\- "Stop with your private jokes", grumbled Terrence wincing as if the pain was his own. "Do you want me to get you something to drink? Or shall we keep going? We're almost there ..."

Albus bit his lips until they bled. He managed to nod and his friend helped him up. They limped to the infirmary and crashed on an empty bed in the big room, exhausted.

\- "What's the matter, children?" asked Hannah Abbot, the school nurse, coming toward them from the back of the room where she had administered a calming potion to a seventh year girl obviously hysterical - probably because of the term exams coming soon.

She stopped to check the oozing bandage of a fifth-year boy, on whose head were growing stalks of leeks, then walked toward them.

She was wearing a blond low bun, and her pale skin had a tendency to blush at the top of her chubby cheeks. She was wearing a long gray-blue dress that was stretched on her opulent chest and which brushed on the floor tiles.

\- "Al's not feeling too good", said Terrence, getting off the mattress and removing his glasses to wipe them.

The nurse put a hand on Albus' back.

\- "Do you have nausea? What did you have for breakfast? I heard there was something wrong with this morning's pudding…"

She frowned as she took in Albus' hand clutching his chest, the sweat shining on his face and his labored breathing.

\- "Oh. What exactly happened to him?"

\- "We were at the Quidditch pitch and suddenly ..."

\- "Oh, I see", growled the woman.

She looked around for the isolation curtain. Terrence pulled it, but remained near the bed

\- "Let's see, take off your sweater. There ... thank you. Sorry, my hands are cold."

She shoved the red and yellow tie on the nightstand, between the pitcher and the lamp, and looked for a bruise, a bump under the skin that would explain what was going on. But there was nothing. She ruffled the hair of the exhausted boy.

\- "I'll give you something for the pain, okay?" she offered in an encouraging voice. "I'll check on you again later, when you feel a bit better."

Terrence did not like that at all. He followed her to the locked closet where she kept the ingredients for potions and poultices, while Albus put back on his clothes.

\- "What's wrong with him?" he asked quietly.

\- "Something that has nothing to do with Quidditch..." Hannah Abbot replied grimly, almost for herself, before realizing who she was talking to. "What are _you_ still doing her? How comes you're not studying in the Great Hall with everybody else?"

Terrence took a leap aside to avoid the smack and went back to Albus' bed. He slipped between the curtains and sighed when he saw his friend curled up on the stripped mattress. His shirt was not even buttoned. The gray sweater had fallen on the floor. Terrence picked it up and dusted it.

\- "Al. At least get under the blanket, we're not in summer, mate ... You look like you're posing for the cover of Finnigan's magazines."

He swallowed and crouched beside the bed, his chin resting on his folded arms on the mattress, to be at the patient's height.

\- "Al-bus-Se-ve-rus-Pot-ter", he mouthed like a robot. "Hello, over there on the Moon, can you hear me? You'll feel better in three minutes, I promise. Lovely Bobbie may not be a mermaid, but she knows her stuff."

He had already made numerous trips to the infirmary: the experiments and tests he attempted from the manuals he pinched from the upper grades were not always turning as planned ...

\- "Thanks for the compliment, Swanson, you ape", the nurse gritted behind him, armed with a stove that smoked thick. "Now get out of here so I can take care of your friend."

Terrence waltzed around the bed and placed himself on the other side to monitor the operations.

Hannah Abbot sighed. She rolled her eyes and gave up chasing him from the infirmary.

Terrence Swanson was such a dearie - _he was so smart, always asked lots of questions and knew to be very gallant _\- and the friendship between the two boys was one of the immovable things of Hogwarts.

\- "Here, help him prop up against the pillow. There, that's better."

She smiled at the patient who tried to withstand the waves of pain without complaining, an eye closed and the other half open, his face tense.

\- "Albus, it'll be a bit hot at first, but you should feel relief afterwards."

She opened up the boy's shirt, chin-signed to Terrence who grabbed the hand whose nails were driven into the skin and who took it away from the pain site.

\- "Brace up, mate ..."

The nurse took a handful of the viscous black goo and applied it to the teenager's chest.

Albus made a movement to push her away, at first, then his body relaxed.

\- "Thank you ..." he murmured at last.

He was breathing more calmly, but his face was drawn with fatigue like if he had run a marathon.

\- "Well done, Bobbie!" Terrence exclaimed happily.

The nurse wiped her hands on her apron, tsk-ing, half angry, half amused.

\- "Listen to this child who doesn't know his place", she muttered.

She leaned over Albus and covered the poultice with a large square of cotton.

\- "Stay a moment like this, get a wink of sleep, and we'll see how you feel later. You okay with that?"

The boy nodded.

\- "Okay."

The woman smiled again.

\- "Good."

Then she turned to Terrence and her eyebrows narrowed dangerously.

\- "As for you, get out, nipper! I bet everyone's having dinner. You'll make your house lose points!"

The boy dodged the slap effortlessly and ran towards the door.

\- "I'll be back, Al!" he shouted.

\- "SHUT UP WHEN IN THE INFIRMARY!" roared the nurse behind him before the two doors closed with a bang.

\- "She thinks she owns the place", Terrence muttered, heading to the Great Hall.

He slipped behind Bert Hammersmith, the school janitor, and sneaked to his table.

\- "How's Al?" Wendy asked before he had time to sit down next to her.

The entire Gryffindor Quidditch team bent over the dishes.

\- "Does he feel better?"

\- "What was it, then?"

\- "Appendicitis?"

\- "Eh? What's _happen dix it is_? A curse?"

\- "He got hit by a bludger, isn't it?"

Terrence endured the storm of questions without batting eyelids, piled half a dozen chicken drumsticks on his plate before helping himself to a huge dipper of mushroom soup, and took the time to swallow a spoonful of mashed potatoes before answering.

\- "He'ss be''er bu' Bo'pp'ie doe'n't know wha' hap'e' - ha' tha' ho'!"

\- "Not a word was clear", Wendy said, pinching her friend's nose to throw a glass of water down his mouth and make him swallow faster.

\- "If the geek's no more panicked than this, in any case, it means Al's not dead!" James said.

The others laughed and Terrence took the opportunity to sprinkle soup on the chicken drumstick he had quickly pushed in his mouth.

His eyes met Wendy's disapproving look and he grinned, his chin drooling with sauce, his mouth full. She hesitated, then smiled back.

_"Al's fine, don't worry."_

_"OK. Thank you for staying with him."_

After dinner, Terrence, who had retrieved his school bag, discreetly put back the potions book in Jeremy Shacklebolt's bag before going back to the infirmary with Wendy. James and Lily caught up with them on the way.

Hannah Abbot frowned as they entered.

\- "Five minutes, no more", she warned before pulling the curtain. "And I don't want to hear a sound."

They gathered around the bed on tiptoe. Albus was asleep, one hand on his chest and the other over the edge of the bed. He was breathing better. With his black mop of hair on the pillow and his mouth ajar, he looked like a quiet child.

\- "Pff", James said, with a relieved smile, despite himself.

\- "He really looks like Daddy", Lily said.

_"True"_, thought Hannah Abbot.

Wendy had no opinion on this issue, she was busy thinking of a way to grab onto the hand that was hanging on the edge of the mattress – but without anyone seeing her. Terrence did notice it, though, and walked around the bed to strategically place himself in between the brothers and the girl.

\- "He only looks like him from the outside", James corrected after a while, in a weird voice.

Albus coughed in his sleep. He stirred, his hand went to his face, he blinked and opened his eyes.

\- "Ah ..."

\- "Hi, bro", James said. "Back to the Living?"

Albus nodded, still half asleep.

\- "Well, that's good. I'll get out of here, then. Lily, if you write the parents that Al passed out during a Quidditch workout, you're dead meat, got it? I don't want Mum to rush here at once."

He underlined his threat with a significant gesture of the thumb under his chin. His sister rolled her eyes and brushed back her red hair with disdain.

\- "All right, all right, I'm not four anymore ..."

James snorted and left the room.

\- "Well, that's it, that's enough for today", the nurse intervened. "I'll look at what happened with the poultice, Albus. The others, out."

\- "See you tomorrow, Al ..." Wendy whispered awkwardly.

Albus smiled and held out his hand. She high-fived it gently, then went out after a last look.

\- "Oh My Gosh Isn't This Subtle", Lily sighed.

\- "Get off, Miss "I have no sense at all", Terrence said, pushing her towards the door. "Give them some space."

Lily stuck her heels in between two tiles and sank against him, her eyelashes fluttering.

\- "Whaaat, what have I doooone?"

Terrence blew out a deep breath and massaged the bridge of his nose under his glasses. He grabbed her by the shoulders and smirked.

\- "Lily. I know your mother married her brother's best friend, but you know what? It will never happen between us. _Never ever_. And you know why?"

He leapt towards the nurse and affectionately put his arm around the waist of the chubby woman.

\- "Because my whole heart belongs to Hannah "Bobbie" Abbot, the best among female creatures in this world", he proclaimed solemnly, crossing a hand on his chest.

\- "It's disgusting", protested Lily.

\- "_Out, now_", the nurse snarled, grabbing the two of them by the neck and throwing them outside.

She closed the door when they were down the corridor and returned to Albus. She pulled the blanket and removed the gauze.

The patch was dry and now greyish.

\- "How do you feel?" the woman asked, breaking pieces of clay.

The teenager smiled.

\- "Much better. Can I go back? I mean, I feel fine, now..."

Mrs Abbot shook her head, while collecting the bits of poultice in her apron.

\- "Uh-uh. First, I want to see how it looks. And I'd rather you sleep here for the night, just in case."

She sprayed some liquid from a vial on a cloth and cleaned the boy's chest. Albus gave her a pleading pout.

\- "Please ... I'll make sure Terrence apologizes to you, but ..."

\- "Hey, I apologize if I want", interrupted his best friend popping in next to the nurse. "So how ..."

His mouth o-shaped, he suddenly stopped talking. The woman had also fallen silent. She frowned.

\- "What?" Albus asked, a little worried, trying to see what they were staring at.

Mrs Abbot looked up.

\- "Albus. What is _this_, exactly?

The boy shared a panicked glance with his best friend, hoping for some help. He had no idea what she was talking about.

\- "Whaaah", finally said Terrence. "I didn't know you got such a tattoo…It's huge - but beautiful, actually. Maybe I should get one too."

The nurse gave him a slap on the arm.

\- "Shut up, Swanson. Potter, this mark has _nothing_ to do with ink. This is _not_ a tattoo. It's magic, and, even more, very complicated magic, very old. Where did you get that scar?"

\- "_Scar_?" Terrence repeated, stunned, staring at the swollen mark that looked like a snow flower on the chest of the teenager.

Albus shook his head.

\- "I don't know ..." he said in a shaky voice. "I don't know, I've never seen it before ..."

Somehow, he felt like he was lying – but he had no idea why.

* * *

**_TO BE CONTINUED_**


	3. Something's off

**SOMETHING'S OFF**

* * *

Three and a half steps.

This was about how far he could get before the magical stairs would decide to trap him.

Since his arrival at Hogwarts, Terrence Swanson wondered if someone had thrown some kind of a recognition spell on those damn stairs. It seemed he was the only student in the whole school to whom this happened: _yes_, sometimes, the stairs were moving randomly to connect with another floor, but _why_ was it that _no one else but him_ got _stuck_ in the middle of nowhere?

He pulled the leather strap hanging from his belt, on which he had hung half a dozen watches – muggle and witches indifferently – and sighed.

Forty past ten and some irrelevant seconds (_some watches tended to go at their own pace_), nobody was going to pass by for a while.

_Good. Luckily, for once. I need to think._

He pushed back the line of watches in his pocket and fumbled in his class bag for the headsets he had bewitched so they would play the tracks of his old MP3 (_Merlin, how magic was practical: he hated carrying tons of batteries each time he went back to school_).

Eventually he found them, dusted them to get rid of the Valerian powder which bottle had opened and sprinkled all over the bag. He put them on, drew his wand from the back pocket of his uniform pants and pronounced the incantation nonchalantly.

\- "_Orchestra auribus_."

The only problem with this spell was the sound which never kept to the headphones. It had a tendency to twirl around your ears, which was completely useless when you wanted to listen to music while the rest of the dormitory was sleeping - or studying.

Terrence shrugged. It was not a problem. He had become used to go to one of the empty rooms of the third floor when he needed to concentrate.

In the end, he was rarely _alone_ up there.

Most of the time, Albus was curled up on the window-sill with a book and read quietly while his best friend immersed his genius brain in music, mumbling incoherently and scratching on scrolls as if his quill itched with chicken pox.

Often, Wendy joined them there and painted the various places of the castle, sitting cross-legged on a pile of threadbare cushions. Occasionally, a house elf appeared in a light "pop" and ate his snack made of slices of zucchini / hazelnut cream / aioli crouched next to her, commenting on the picture in a shrilly voice. It was an unusual phenomenon for these shy creatures with big ears, especially since they should have been the first to remind the students that using the empty rooms was not really allowed. The three friends had given up understanding after they had noticed their asking question turned the strange little people hysterical - or made them disappear for weeks.

Terrence suspected the house elves to be under the same mysterious attraction for Albus as all the other magical creatures.

_One._

Albus, who had never been sick in three and a half years, had suddenly fell off his broom because of a pain in the chest that had appeared _out of nowhere_.

_Two._

Albus, who was the last person in the school who would have meddled with dark magic or associate with hooligans, had a scar left by a curse _impossible to achieve_ even for a skilled wizard.

_Three reasons to suspect a trick. Three threads well tangled._

_Bobbie didn't look at ease ..._

_There's definitely something fishy..._

Terrence nibbled his lips. He stepped aside following the reggae song, snapped his fingers. His hips and chin began to move in rhythm with the bass. He was humming softly, so immersed in his thoughts he did not notice that above him, Nearly-Headless-Nick and Moaning Myrtle were in full groove, trying to mimic his dance moves.

The stairs did not move, still locked on nothingness. The song sounded disembodied under the high ceiling and the two ghosts waddled carefully, copying the way Terrence spun on himself and made his heels slide on the side.

On his way back from the Great Hall, Neville Longbottom stopped down the stairs and looked at the show in front of him. He pushed back his robes and put his hands in the pockets of his corduroy pants. He did not know if he should laugh or apostrophize the oblivious dancing student. He shook his head and took a step forward.

The recalcitrant staircase recognized him immediately and set in motion to the left to connect with the second floor. Terrence, still deep in thought, did not notice, but the two ghosts pouted as they spotted the professor. They parted - Moaning Myrtle had been trying to force Nearly-Headless-Nick to pass under her arm lock - and disappeared under the applause of a dozen women wearing only braids of flowers. The satyr who had sat down to watch the show stood up and went back to chase after the ladies who escaped in the following painting, cheeping.

\- "Swanson. What are you doing here while your friends are all in their bedrooms or studying in the Great Hall?" Neville asked, placing his hand on the boy's shoulder.

Terrence came back to reality in a startle. He took off the headphones that went silent with a gurgle.

\- "Oh, Professor. Sorry, I didn't hear you coming ..."

He grinned apologetically at the tall and skinny man who taught them Herbology. Despite his horsey face, bushy brown hair and light stuttering Neville Longbottom was nevertheless one of their favorite teachers. His kindness was notorious, his sense of justice recognized by all, and while some students were making fun of his overflowing passion for the smallest bit of green, he undoubtedly remained the most consulted adult in Hogwarts. He always had time for a cuppa, never tired of comforting those who were homesick and was of good advise when exams drove you crazy or when you had an argument with a friend.

\- "What troubles you, lad?"

Terrence rubbed his nose. He hesitated, then stuffed the headphones in his bag and lifted blue eyes to the man who smiled kindly.

\- "You know Albus' family, don't you? His mother passes on her greetings to you each year."

Neville Longbottom's eyebrows furrowed.

\- "Yes", he replied cautiously. "His parents are childhood friends. Why?"

The teenager pondered for a while, as if he was not sure he wanted to share his thoughts.

\- "Do ... do you know where does his scar come from, then? It appeared when we were treating him for his fall during the Quidditch workouts. Al doesn't remember how he got it and Nurse Abbot seems to find it important. Is it a curse? Or a family tradition of some sort? I heard his father has a famous scar."

The brown irises of the teacher widened in surprise.

\- "_What_ scar? Albus doesn't ..."

He paused and blushed violently, as if something had just crossed his mind.

\- "These are questions far too personal", he said in a troubled voice that he tried to make sound severe. "I don't think I need to answer."

Terrence had not missed the change on his face and did not insist.

_That makes it four._

Neville cleared his throat.

\- "You should go to bed, Swanson. It's late."

\- "Good night, Professor."

The man waited until the teenager had obediently climbed a few steps, then whirled around and ran down the stairs toward the infirmary. Terrence, standing on the second floor, watched him disappear around the corner of the ground floor and sighed.

_There really was something fishy._

He walked thoughtfully to his dorm, gave the password to the leprechaun who guarded the door straddling on an old goat that chewed a tuft of grass with a supremely bored look, and tacked between the fifth-year guys practicing their spells in the common room decorated with scarlet tapestries. A pair of cushions had exploded and feathers were flying everywhere. Some girls were sitting by the fireplace trying to go over their lessons in this infernal racket and there was a rat in great distress on the chandelier, blowing in spite of itself a huge ball of turquoise chewing-gum.

Terrence gave him a look of pity but simply climbed the spiral staircase to his room.

\- "Holy Pogrebin, Swanson, _warn_ when it's you!" someone squealed indignantly when the door opened.

A paper swallow was fluttering around the room and it smelled of skunk inside.

\- "What, you thought I was a teacher?" retorted the blond boy with a smirk.

He tossed his bag on the first four-poster bed on the right - _his_ \- then flumped face down on the left one.

Craig Finnigan and Samuel Flint-Fletchey, who were lying side by side on the burgundy quilt, had just enough time to roll to the side. Flint-Fletchey fell heavily on the carpet, while Finnigan scooped away the magazine.

\- "Watch out for me poor Cassiopeia", he protested, rolling his eyes.

Terrence grabbed the magazine and flipped through it quickly.

\- "I thought your favorite was Melisande."

Samuel, who had gotten up and had circled around the bed, came to lean on him.

\- "Not anymore since she had her nose redone", he said.

\- "It's not her _nose_ Craig's interested in", Terrence scoffed.

Finnigan looked offended for about three seconds, then chuckled.

\- "That ain't true. Come on, give it back, Swanson. If you wanna have a peek, it's twenty Knuts."

Terrence gave up the magazine and jumped off the bed.

\- "No thanks, that's fine. And, mates, the house elves were briefed regarding the readings of the students. If they get their hands on your copy of _Blue Laces_, you can say goodbye to Melisande and her pretty legs ..."

\- "Cassiopeia", Samuel corrected.

\- "Don't worry, Malfoy put a charm on it", bragged Finnigan. "They'll believe it's the _Quibbler_."

Terrence shared a look with the blond boy who owned the fourth bed and who merely shrugged, then he smirked.

\- "And you _really_ think a spell cast by a 4th year student will confuse centenary elves!"

\- "Shut your trap, Swanson, you aren't funny", Flint-Fletchey grumbled.

The two teens resettled on the messy bed and put the quilt on their heads like a tent. Two seconds later, their delighted giggles were mingling with the sound of turned pages.

Terrence shook his head, amused.

\- "Nutters..."

He went back to his bed, shoved his bag in the nightstand and went in search of his pajamas. The top had landed on one of the posts of his bed and the bottom was rumpled under the fringes of the mattress, next to an empty box of crumpled _Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans _and Fabius Macmillan's broken Sneakoscope (Fabius was sleeping in the other room with Samuel Flint-Fletchey and two other 4th-year boys). Terrence put on his pajamas then had to look for his toothbrush. It suddenly appeared before him, floating in the air.

He grabbed it and turned to Scorpius Malfoy who was putting back his wand on his nightstand.

\- "Thanks."

\- "It was with my stuff", pointed out the other boy gruffly. "I almost brushed _my_ teeth with it."

He looked disgusted.

\- "Sorry", muttered Terrence, fishing his toothpaste in the inkwell set on Albus' nightstand.

Like the corner of the bedroom where lived Malfoy, Potter's area was pretty neat. There was a stack of books beside the bed and an open Quidditch magazine on the vermilion bedspread - next to Fabius Macmillan's sleeping cat - but it had nothing to do with Finnigan's walls covered with posters (_Lingerie pages from 'Witch Weekly' and specials from the Quidditch World Cup edition of the 'Daily Prophet'_) or the monumental mess near Terrence's bed. In between the cauldrons jagged by failed experiments, the flasks with questionable content, the objects without head or tail picked up everywhere and the textbooks tamped with thousands of sticking notes, it was a miracle the elves could still change the sheets once in a month.

\- "What have you done with Potter?" Scorpius asked nonchalantly, turning a page of his book. "Lost him on the way? Your _remembrall_ doesn't work?"

Terrence grinned. He was far from being fooled.

\- "Al's in the infirmary, he got hurt during Quidditch workouts. Nothing serious", he quickly added when the gray eyes of the other teen flashed fiercely.

Of all beings strangely fascinated by Albus, Scorpius Malfoy was the most surprising one. Probably because he was _human_ \- though Terrence sometimes wondered if it was mercury flowing in the veins of the boy with pale complexion. He did not have many friends - well, to be exact, none at all. He might have had some if he had been sorted into Slytherin where were mostly kids from rich families, but since he had been put in the Gryffindor house, the ties had been cut out.

Terrence had not quite understood why, but most children from wizarding families were suspicious of the little sickly-looking blond boy. During their first year, Scorpius, who seemed to have set as a goal in life to be as invisible as possible, had suffered a lot of bullying, especially from James Potter's gang. Then, once, during _Potions_, he had found himself paired with Albus and the magic had worked.

Just like the rabid dog that guarded the back entrance of _Honeydukes_, like the perverse Grindylow they had studied during their third year, like a lot of other creatures shivering with fear or anger, the boy with almost white blond hair had been mysteriously tamed by the big green eyes.

They did not become the best of friends – Scorpius was too much of a loner for that - but warmth enlivened Malefoy's dull voice when he was in the same room as Albus. Growing up, he had become a little more open, a little stronger too (_he gave himself a manner of disdain to hide his discomfort_) and their seniors had learn to leave him alone.

Terrence was almost sure Mr. Potter was in there for something. James would never have listened to his brother, but he respected his father - even remotely.

\- "She's keeping him for the night?" Scorpius was surprised enough to put the book aside.

He frowned.

Terrence considered wise to change the subject of the conversation.

\- "Are you done with the thirty centimeters we're supposed to write on Chapter 9 of _History of Magic_?"

Malfoy hesitated.

\- "Yeah. Not you? I thought you had it done last Tuesday already."

\- "I forgot about it", Terrence muttered sheepishly. "I don't want to do that tonight, it'll take forever..."

He foraged in the mess around his bed.

\- "I'll do it tomorrow – with a fresh mind."

The alarm clock he was looking for bounced off his head before falling to the floor with a pathetic _dreling_.

\- "This was _also_ in my stuff", snorted Malfoy, his dark eyebrows annoyingly narrowed.

\- "Sorry."

Terrence turned the key up to five o'clock then put the Muggle device on his nightstand, pushing away the pencil box and the spice jars that were his Herbology homework. Scorpius was putting on his pajamas. Samuel and Craig were still giggling stupidly in their makeshift tent. Terrence was considering setting on fire the fringes of the scarlet quilt to force them to go to bed, when the door of the room opened up.

\- "Albus?" said Malfoy, popping his head out of his pajama top.

His well-controlled nonchalant voice and his usual annoyed pout did a good job to hide his concern, but his gray eyes were anxiously scrutinizing the teenager who had just entered.

Terrence turned round, surprised.

\- "What are you doing here, mate?"

Albus smiled, sitting on his bed ("_plumping down on it" would have been more accurate_, mentally noted his best friend.) He was holding in his arms the chewing-gum rat whose fur electrified when it saw the cat curled up on the scarlet quilt.

\- "Pamela Crivey's cauldron exploded and half of the students studying in the Great Hall are now in the infirmary. They're covered with hairy pustules, it's gross."

He shuddered retrospectively and stifled a little cry of pain when the rat bit him, pedaling at full speed on his knees to run away from the waking up cat.

\- "It's really contagious so Nurse Abbot sent me back", he explained whilst putting the terrified rat outside with a gentle pat on its funky head. "And that's good, 'cause I didn't want to spend the night down there."

Terrence put his hands on his hips, biting his lips, then his shoulders relaxed.

\- "Well, must mean she thinks you're all okay, then."

Malfoy nodded vigorously from his bed.

Albus took off his uniform pants and put on his pajama bottoms. He got a T-shirt from his trunk after discovering that crushed reseda (from the mess under the bed next to his) had stained his pajamas top. He paused, a hand on the top button of his shirt, then climbed onto the bed and shut the curtains.

Scorpius' eyes narrowed suspiciously and his dark eyebrows joined in a bar above his stormy eyes. Terrence made but one bound to his friend's bed.

Albus sighed when the teenager's head popped in and pulled down his t-shirt on the bandage across his chest.

\- "Does it hurt?" Terrence asked quietly.

\- "No", said the other boy, a little annoyed. "I just wanted to avoid questions."

\- "Is it still showing?"

Albus nibbled his lip and nodded after a moment, looking down.

\- Did you remember something?" Terrence was asking when Samuel jumped on his back, making him lose his balance. The curtains were torn off and crumpled to the floor.

\- "Oï! What are you two whispering? Did Potter finally got himself a gal? D'you have a tip for the test in _Charms_?"

The blond teenager freed himself from Flint-Fletchey, who was stocky but a head shorter than him, and dumped him in the trunk in front of Finnigan's bed.

\- "No and let go, Sam! Go sleep in your digs."

\- "look what you've done, git", Albus added, bending down to pick up his curtains.

Scorpius didn't miss the wince of pain he couldn't suppress in the movement and scowled even more.

\- "Fight, fight, fight", was chanting Finnigan, excited like a flea, dancing around his bed with an Irish accented neighing.

\- "Shut up, Craig", hissed Malfoy. "Some people want to sleep, in here."

The boy with cropped hair glanced around and stopped right away. The freckles on his cheeks swelled briefly, and the second after, he was pushing his friend out of the room – and throwing Fabius Macmillan's cat in the staircase.

\- "Yeah, get the heck out, Flint-Fletchey. I've seen enough of you for today!

\- "See you tomorrow, sugar!" Samuel cackled behind the door.

Terrence shook his head, overwhelmed by their stupidity.

Craig was now faxing himself into his pajamas, hurrying to get in bed. Albus had closed his eyes, curling up under his scarlet blanket. Terrence sighed and settled for the night as well. Malfoy blew out his candle and relit it the next moment to swing a flash onto the swallow who continued to flutter with an annoying paper noise.

Then everything went quiet.

Terrence joined his hands under his neck on the pillow, and grinned in the dark.

Some things did not change. All the inhabitants of the room went to sleep when Albus did and Potter had never noticed it. The first night, he had said sheepishly, "sorry, I think I snore..." and had taken a blow from Finnigan's comforter: "you better not!"

Then he had fallen asleep and the boys had discovered a secret they had carefully guarded until then.

Albus was not snoring. He was _purring_.

And in the silence of a dark room at the top of a tower in Scotland, in a scary castle after an exhilarating but exhausting first day at school, the gentle and reassuring sound had been like a nightlight for the three eleven years old boys.

Four years later, it had become a habit. A bit like jumping over the thirteenth step of the stairs when going to Divination, or wear earplugs whenever Peeves showed up in the study room, like always carrying with you a piece of carrot to give to Bert Hammersmith's Flemish Giant before it'd bite your rear end, or watch for the moment when the houses banners along the Quidditch pitch unfurled before a game.

Finnigan even claimed he had trouble falling asleep when he was home, in the absence of discrete and warm purr.

Scorpius Malfoy would have never confessed it, but it was one of the things he missed most during the holidays.

_And Terrence..._

Terrence opened his eyes wide in the dark.

_Speaking of weird things..._

_A purring wizard, we never heard about this in class..._

_Albus, how many secrets do you hide?_

He wanted to stay awake longer to think about the new issues raised by the latter observation, but the effect of the purr was just as strong as it had been during his first day at Hogwarts, and his eyelids were already heavy.

He yawned and turned to the side.

In the opposite bed, Malfoy was already in deep slumber. Finnigan was snoring loud, mouth ajar and legs stretched out.

Terrence closed his eyes.

_I'll think about it tomorrow..._

The swallow's ashes were still red on the floor, like tiny rubies. The moon was sliding by the low window, bathing the room in a blue ethereal light. On Craig's nightstand, sand slowly crumbled through the hourglass clock.

Everything was peaceful.

That night, Terrence dreamed of the day he had met Albus for the first time.

* * *

**_TO BE CONTINUED_**


	4. Toughie & Spoon

**TOUGHIE &amp; SPOON  
**

* * *

The small pet shop was filled by an incredible cacophony.

Francis and Amelia Swanson were standing in the middle of the store, with mouths o-shaped and astonished eyes.

\- "How can I help you, me dears?" asked the old witch who was getting off the counter in a creepy noise of bones.

\- "W-w-we j-just w-w-anted a-a-a pet for our s-s-son", Francis managed to stutter after a few minutes, trying not to stare at the huge wart growing on the hooked nose of the seller.

\- "It's his f-first year at Ho-g-warts", stammered his wife.

The witch chuckled and rubbed her prominent chin that was adorned with three very long gray hairs.

Terrence giggled, perfectly at ease. The old lady looked like the 'Wicked Fairy' in his storybook, but there was definitely something affectionate in her voice.

\- "First of the family, innit?"

\- "Yes", answered Terrence proudly.

\- "What a nice lad", commented the hoarse voice while a scraggy hand patted the child's blond hair. "Let's see ... what would you think of an owl? It's important to own one, especially when you come from the Muggle world."

Francis and Amelia shared a glance with their son.

\- "Okay", said cheerfully Terrence, putting his hands on his hips. "But I want one that doesn't bite and won't bring mice in the living room. My mummy's scared of mice."

The witch chortled again. She disappeared through the cages suspended across the ceiling, pushing aside some others that contained rats with small beady eyes.

\- "Hmmmm ... ah, that's it. Come and see, me boy."

Both adults bent to sneak to the back of the shop, being careful not to knock over the baskets precariously piled. Amelia jumped as she passed by a cage full of parrots cursing like sailors and Francis almost stepped on a scrawny cat that glared at him before scratching him on the leg.

\- "Daddy, Mummy, look! Isn't he cute?" Terrence cried in delight.

He was holding in his arms a tiny ball of gray and tawny feathers. The little ivory beck was shiny and the owl's orbs looked like excited black marbles.

\- "He's called Toughie", said the witch, foraging in her nostril with a yellow streaked nail. "It's not a baby, despite its size. He's faithful and efficient over long distances, although it's hard to believe this when you see him."

\- "Tell me about it", muttered Francis.

He gave a look of apology to the old woman who was chuckling again.

\- "Do we need to feed him rodents?" Amelia timidly asked, gathering her courage. "Where can we buy some? Does it need a basket or a necklace?"

Without putting away the bird that looked comfortable on his arm, Terrence pulled a tattered brochure out of his school bag.

\- "Look, Mummy, they explain everything in here. Domestic owls are very proper, they're used to live in houses and it's not diff…"

The doorbell chimed, followed by a hubbub of voices.

\- "And anyway, don't you dare to pick an owl just to copy me!" shrieked the angry voice of a boy.

\- "James, that's enough. Let your brother chose what he wants, it's his own pet", said a man's voice.

\- "I'm not _copying_", protested a shy but indignant little voice. "It's just that ... that ... I wanted to have an owl just like Daddy when he was in school ..."

\- "NO! Dad, he's doing it _on purpose_!"

\- "James, what did we say?" cut off the voice of a woman. "Stop your nonsense."

\- "Oh Mummy, look, they have _bats_!" squeaked the excited voice of a little girl. "I want a bat! Oh please, Mummy, can I have a bat? Please, please, _please_! Pretty please!"

Terrence slipped behind the saleswoman, curious and fascinated, like every time they met a family of wizards doing their shopping in _Diagon Alley_ crowded at this season of the year.

They looked rather normal, compared to some others, actually. The mother was dressed with a skirt and a blouse, and her auburn hair was neatly combed. The father wore round glasses and a suit jacket with blue jeans - just like Terrence's dad. The oldest of the boys had messy hair and a rather smug expression. The little girl's face was dotted with freckles and her almost orange hair was knitted in two short braids. She was hopping, rubbing her hands imploringly. The other boy was probably to be in first year at Hogwarts as well. Terrence could only see his back. He was holding the hand of the man.

\- "Mr. _Potter_!" cried gleefully the old witch, making her way through two basins of toads that were making disgusting bubbles. "Mr. _Harry Potter_ in me shop! What an honor, Merlin's beard, what an honor!"

She beamed as she curtsied, pleating up her shabby dress. The man rubbed his neck, looking a bit embarrassed.

\- "Good evening, ma'am", he said. "We... uh. We're here to choose a pet for my son Albus. Albus Severus is entering in his first year at Hogwarts, you see. Yeah, it's his turn, now."

The saleswoman leaned toward the dark-haired boy who looked a lot like his father, and who took a step back, hiding behind the arm of the man.

\- "Aww, they're growing up, these lovely seeds!" she cooed. "So, what pet do you wish for, me dear child?"

From where he was, Terrence clearly saw the green eyes of his future classmate glancing at his brother, then at his father.

\- "An ... owl. I would like… an owl – please", he whispered.

\- "Dad! _Tell_ him!" squealed once again the one called James. "He's doing _everything_ like me, it's _too_ much!"

\- "James, shut up", ordered the woman. She lightly pulled on the braids of the girl who was still pleading. "Lily, you too, that's enough. You're not getting a bat. And we already said you'd pick a pet when you'd enter in first year, like everyone else."

The man shared a look with her.

\- "Maybe you could go wait for us at the _Leaky Cauldron"_, he began. "Al and I ..."

\- "Oh no, can't we go instead to Uncle Georges' shop? Please, Mum, please?" James interrupted.

Terrence was finding him increasingly annoying. Behind him, Francis was rolling his eyes and Amelia was frowning.

\- "Okay", said the woman with auburn hair. "But if you threw even _one_ fit there, let me tell you that you'll spend what's left of holidays at Grandma Weasley's. And _not_ in the garden. Is that _understood_?"

When the three of them were gone, the store became much calmer. Well, except for the animals' mewing – chirping - squeaking.

The man with glasses crouched in front of the child and smiled.

\- "You can choose whatever you want, Al. Don't worry..."

The green-eyed boy nodded. He looked around, locked eyes with a peevish owl that hooted faintly, leaned over the toads' basins and stroked their slimy horny heads. The scrubby cat that had been so surly to Francis Swanson came to rub against the child's legs, purring like an old diesel engine.

The old witch was watching him in loving awe.

Terrence realized the jabber had decreased strangely, as if the creatures held their breath. His parents, who had seemed willing to pay quickly and get out of the store during the family's quarrel, looked completely charmed, now.

\- "Oh", suddenly said Albus, and his face lit up.

He was looking at a white owl fluffing her feathers on a high perch.

The man with glasses put his hands in his pockets and smiled.

\- "This is what you want?"

The boy did not answer immediately. He had gotten on tiptoe to see the owl better and leaned against the counter. Now he was looking at something that was _on_ the counter.

\- "Ah", the old woman said, clearing her throat - an absolutely disgusting noise. She joggled up to the child and put her bony hand on his shoulder. "I see you've met Spoon."

\- "What's wrong with him? Is he sick?" the boy asked, lifting up misted green eyes.

Terrence could not bear it any longer. He slipped in between two cages, causing tweeters and whistles of protest and joined them at the counter.

His parents followed him and greeted the man with messy black hair who was wiping his glasses on a corner of his jacket.

\- "Hi", said Terrence planting himself in front of the other first-year student. He was taller than him by a good four and a half inches.

\- "Hello", timidly said the boy.

When you saw them closer, the green eyes shimmered with golden sparkles.

Toughie hopped on Terrence's arm and flew up to Albus' head, on which he landed with a satisfied hoot.

\- "Oh", said Terrence. He grinned. "He likes you."

He turned his head to the counter and looked at the black and white ferret curled up in a ragged cloth.

\- "His fur's dirty. If he's not washing, it means he's sick, that's for sure", he said in a scholarly tone.

\- "Um."

Albus nodded and tears welled up in his eyes.

Terrence did not know why, but suddenly nothing seemed more important than comfort the boy he did not know.

\- "Hey, it's okay, don't worry", he tried, mechanically pushing off a black lock from the other child's face.

\- "But no one will want him to be their pet, poor little one ..." stammered the boy with green eyes.

The old witch leaned over and flashed him a toothless grin – full of affection but really hideous.

\- "Do you want to have it?"

Albus reached for the sick ferret which rose slightly and rubbed his mangy nose against the warm fingers.

\- "Yes", he replied in a small voice, after a last look at the beautiful white owl hooting royally on her perch.

The man with round glasses had approached silently. He smiled at his son.

\- "Okay", he said. "Let's take it home."

Albus was too small to reach for the ferret but Terrence got on tiptoe and took it, very carefully. He placed it gently in the arms of the other boy then whistled Toughie. The tiny owl opened big shocked eyes, but flew off, landed on Terrence's shoulder with a hoot and pecked his ear affectionately.

\- "How much is it, ma'am?" asked Albus' father, looking into the pocket of his jacket.

\- "Nothing", said the old witch. "Spoon wasn't for sale."

\- "Ah", the man said after a pause. He cast a glance towards the child and his brow furrowed slightly. "Ah," he repeated.

He caught on the stare of Francis and Amelia Swanson and politely bowed his head to greet them, as if he was distracted.

\- "Al? Come on, son, off we go."

The bell chimed again when they went out, holding hands. Albus was carrying the feeble creature and did not see that people on the street were looking strangely at his father. Terrence's eyes followed them through the window then he went to the 'Wicked Fairy' and tugged on her sleeve.

\- "Is Spoon going to die?" he asked. His blue eyes were blazing angrily. "You shouldn't sell animals in such a weak state. It'll make _him_ cry..."

\- "Terri! _Darling_, how can you…!" cried his mother, horrified.

\- "He's a bit too clever for his own sake", Francis said apologetically.

The old witch scratched her crooked chin.

\- "No harm done", she sputtered happily. "You've got here a bright young wizard who's not afraid to speak his mind. That's good."

She leaned over and her knuckles cracked, as if her back and knees were going to unbuckle from one moment to the next.

\- "The ferret has no more than a few days left to live, that's true", she said, staring at Terrence who felt a chill going down his spine. "But that could change. You see, me boy, there ain't many people who have such power at this age. The young Mr. Potter ..."

She stopped talking and her gaze blurred off as she readjusted her wool shawl.

\- "You'll see", she concluded, her small beady eyes brightening again. "You'll be in school with him, so you'll see."

Francis coughed discreetly.

\- "This... _Potter _man. Is he someone important in your community?"

The eyes of the old lady grew wide in surprise then she laughed openly. As if the spell had been broken, all creatures resumed to prattling, twittering, yapping and making a whole lot of noise.

Terrence frowned, gently stopping Toughie from nibbling his cheek.

He did not understand.

And he did not understand either how it happened, but the black and white ferret lived for two more years before dying quietly, huddled in a corner of the canopy over Albus' bed.

Meanwhile, Terrence had become the best friend of the green-eyed boy who had not chosen the beautiful white owl.

* * *

_**TO BE CONTINUED**_


	5. Nightmare

**NIGHTMARE**

* * *

Before he was completely awake, Scorpius Malfoy knew something was wrong.

_First_, because his peaceful dream – he was playing Quidditch and dozens of friends were cheering for him in the stands - suddenly turned into a pitiful comedy: all spectators' heads became balloons and spun to the sky with clownish sniggers, while his own broom was decorated with atrocious pink bows.

He _only_ had such ridiculous nightmares during the holidays.

Then he woke up in a startle and realized the bedroom was silent.

_Which explained the stupid conclusion of his dream._

He kicked off the blankets and got up, grabbing his dressing gown on the chair next to the window. The moon bathed the room in ethereal blue light.

Terrence's shadow sat up on the opposite bed.

\- "Scorpius?" he whispered worriedly.

\- "Yeah", the blond boy grumbled after stifling a cry of pain: he had stepped on the debris of Fabius Macmillan's Sneakoscope.

\- "What's the matter?" suddenly mumbled Craig, sitting up haggardly.

Terrence always wondered how Finnigan managed to look disheveled with so little hair on the head.

\- "Albus stopped purring", reported Scorpius, carefully circling around a pile of mess in the dark.

\- "Engine's broken?" muttered Finnigan sleepily. He fumbled for his wand and eventually grabbed it. "_Lumos_".

Malfoy blinked, dazzled.

\- "Not that strong!"

\- "Blimey, mates, it's four in the morning ..."

Terrence, who had gotten up, hissed angrily, turning to Finnigan's bed.

\- "Shut up! You're noisier than Peeves!"

Scorpius and he leaned over Albus' bed then raised their heads and looked at each other.

\- "He's a_sleep_?" snapped Malfoy incredulously.

Terrence nibbled his lip.

\- "I hope", he said at last.

He shook the shoulder of his best friend whose messy black hair was the only thing showing.

\- "Al."

The boy curled up under the sheet with a whimper.

\- "If he's asleep, let him be", Scorpius said, shrugging to hide the malaise that gripped his guts. "Maybe the purring was supposed to end one day."

_More likely it's something to add to the fishiness list_, Terrence thought, his eyebrows so furrowed that it hurt.

\- "Oï, sleepy-head."

\- "Well, tell me when you have restarted him, 'kay", yawned Finnigan from his bed where he lay down again lazily after pushing his wand under his pillow.

Albus turned to the other side and moaned. The two boys had trouble seeing his face in the night, but they saw enough to understand he was drenched in sweat.

\- "Al, wake up", Terrence rasped.

\- "Shall I get a teacher?" Scorpius suggested – his tone was becoming more and more irritated as his concern rose.

\- "We shou ..."

Terrence's voice suddenly broke off. He swallowed and avoided Malfoy's gaze.

\- "_What's that_? articulated the other boy, his mouth completely dry.

Something had lit up under Albus' blanket. It was diffuse, almost transparent, but the shape was easily recognizable.

\- "Looks like a flower", Scorpius whispered. "What is it? His wand's on the nightstand, as usual. Where does it come from, if it's not a spell?"

Terrence clenched his sweaty palms then wiped them on his pajama bottoms.

_It's the exact same shape as the scar-tattoo._

Before he could think further, Albus winced suddenly and began to mumble.

\- "No… don't ... No, Daddy, don't ..."

His head sank into the pillow as if he was trying to escape a horrible vision. He had a strangled sob and Scorpius stiffened.

\- "Swanson? What _exactly_ is happening?" he hissed.

Terrence did not answer.

\- "Al? Al, you're at Hogwarts, wake up!" he pressed, grabbing his best friend's arm.

The sleeping boy's nape writhed back and his fists clutched on the sheet. He was trembling and started weeping in his slumber. He kicked off the blanket. His shirt was rolled up, the bandage undone and the flower-shaped mark appeared, perfectly cut in fire spirals on his sweaty chest.

\- "Dad ... Daddy, I beg you ... no ... Daddy, please! DON'T!"

A jolt shook him violently and he awoke, disoriented, out of breath. The moment he opened his eyes, the light disappeared, leaving only the swollen red scar on his skin.

\- "Terrence? Scorpius?" he gasped, discovering the two faces anxiously staring at him.

\- "Stop scaring us to death, mate", Terrence stammered, pushing up his glasses on his nose, while Malfoy regained his senses and the control of his furious face.

Albus sat down heavily. He hurt all over and felt sick. Mechanically, he pulled down his shirt, looked around him.

\- "Here", Scorpius said, handing him a chipped cup in which he had poured what was left from a butterbeer bottle.

Albus drank greedily then flinched.

\- "Ha, that's gross. How long has it been here? Tastes like old socks ..."

Terrence shook himself back to reality.

\- "Oh. I think that's the cup I used to prepare the anti-horns remedy my grandma wanted for Christmas", he said absently. "It was here? I thought I had lost it..."

Scorpius pinched his nose and sat on Albus' bed.

His legs were wobbly and his thoughts struggled to get back in order in his brain.

\- "I don't even remember what the nightmare was about... " Albus mumbled after a few minutes of silence. "Sorry I woke you up..."

Malfoy looked up, exasperated.

\- "Bobbie was right when she wanted to keep you for the night", finally said Terrence, leaning back against the wall.

In his bed, Finnigan was snoring at full throttle.

* * *

oOoOoOo

* * *

Wendy's eyes gradually went from a surprise face to a snide smile as she watched the four boys who were sitting in the classroom, yawning in the racket that preceded _Transfiguration _class.

\- "Must have been quite a party, I reckon", she sniggered, pulling her chair that shrieked horribly on the floor.

\- "Button up, Philips", grumbled Scorpius who had a headache and whose eyes had become thin slits at the shrill sound.

Craig Finnigan stretched his arms across his desk and shut his eyes with an indecent yawn.

\- "They shouldn't force us to use our brain so early in the morning", he complained.

\- "At least, if you were tired from studying... But no! What an idea to read your stupid magazines that late in the night!" said Rose Weasley who was sitting next to Wendy, shaking her head disapprovingly.

She pushed back her long Venetian blonde hair. The class was held in common with Ravenclaw.

Terrence kept his eyes open with his forefingers and thumbs.

\- "… wasn't reading", he protested weakly.

\- "Experiments are for holidays", Wendy sneered, hiding her concern for her Quidditch team's Seeker who looked like he had lost weight over the night.

_Was he sick? Is it still hurting? Have these idiots let him rest? I thought he had to stay in the infirmary for the night..._

Rose turned to Albus, who was her cousin, and frowned when she saw the dark circles under his eyes and how his uniform hung pathetically on his thin collarbones.

\- "Oh no, not _you too_, Al!" she exclaimed disappointedly.

Fortunately, before she could lecture him, the teacher arrived and walked up to the front in dancing steps.

\- "Quiet, please, that would be nice", sing-sang the woman with blond-white wavy hair.

She put the enormous book she was carrying on her desk, raising a huge cloud of dust that she scattered, coughing, then spun round. Her lawn-colored long skirt rippled and the double-row radish-shaped beads necklace hanging on her blouse rattled merrily.

\- "Good morning, ladies; good morning, gentlemen."

\- "Good morning, professor", graciously answered the students.

Luna Lovegood had the reputation of being completely bizarre, but she was highly placed in the school surveys. You did not take long to realize that her dreamy voice did not prevent her from being a powerful, intelligent witch. She was the director of the Ravenclaw House and had been teaching _Transfiguration_ for three years at Hogwarts. Some rumors said she had worked at the Ministry of Magic before becoming a teacher, but others asserted she was a reporter for _the Quibbler_. Some Ravenclaw students claimed she had been an Auror in secret missions and some from Gryffindor looked forward to the love story between her and their director...

She smiled enigmatically and waved her wand at the black board on which her quirky handwriting loomed out.

\- "_Animagus"_, she said. "Could someone explain what it is?"

Rose Weasley raised her arm at once.

\- "Yes, Miss Weasley."

\- "An Animagus is a wizard who can change into an animal but retains control of his mind during his metamorphosis."

Luna Lovegood nodded.

\- "Very good. Ten points to Ravenclaw."

She took a few steps on the podium.

\- "Becoming an animagus is a long and difficult process and there are just a few animagi in our country, all identified by the Ministry", she added. "We monitor closely those who want - and have the ability - to become an animagus, especially since an illegal one caused all that evilness, more than twenty years ago ..."

Craig Finnigan leaned toward his neighbor.

\- "I bet she's talking about the war. I reckon it'd be better to address it in our first year, rather than giving us spoilers for six years."

Samuel Flint-Fletchey did not answer; he was busy pretending he was picking up the tip of his quill.

\- "There are currently two animagi recognized by the ministry within your school", continued Mrs. Lovegood in her piping voice. "One is our Director, Minerva McGonagall, and the other ..."

She discretely cleared her throat to restore the silence her last sentence had broken off.

\- "And the other one..."

She paused again and sighed.

\- "Mr. Flint-Fletchey, your quill tip is next to your left sole, and not under Miss Brown's skirt."

Miranda Brown gave a little cry and covered her flushed face, while Samuel straightened wryly.

\- "Five points from Gryffindor", said the professor in her ethereal voice, so friendly it made Terrence smile.

He suspected her to have a lot more humor that one could believe while seeing her dreamy bulging blue eyes.

\- "And the other animagus we have the pleasure to have in our midst is your Defense Against Dark Arts' teacher, Mauritia Curtis."

\- "Please", Wendy asked, raising her hand, "what animal can they change into?"

\- "I heard the director could morph into a cat", intervened one of the Morgensten twins – the one who had a mole on her ear.

Luna Lovegood smiled ecstatically.

\- "You heard well. Regarding Mrs Curtis ... Well, if her current state would allow, I'm sure she would be very happy to show you."

\- "What do you think she changes into?" Fabius Macmillan chuckled, giving a nudge to Emile Scarecrow. "A _whale_?"

The young woman's eyelids fluttered.

\- "I'm afraid twenty points are again lost to Gryffindor because of you, Mr. Macmillan", she sighed. "This was _not_ very polite ..."

An all-round outcry greeted this announcement, quickly calmed by a 'tsk' of the teacher.

Craig Finnigan jumped on Fabius when the class was over, with the clear intention of shampooing his head and making him stop his nonsense, while Rose Weasley and Miranda Brown lingered behind to ask questions. Terrence gathered his things and stood up. He stopped when he saw Albus had not moved, his arms folded on his desk and his forehead buried in the crook of his elbow. He walked over and put his hand on his best friend's shoulder.

\- "Hey. You dead? Feel like going to DADA or d'you want to go back to the infirmary?"

Scorpius had stopped at the door and was watching them with his usual scowl.

Albus got up and quickly ran a hand over his face, as if that could help him to stay awake.

\- "I'm okay", he muttered.

He smiled to dispel the doubt he saw in his best friend's eyes and on the face of Wendy who was waiting a few steps from them.

\- "I don't know what that nightmare was about, but I never managed to get back to sleep ... Anyway. I hope DADA won't be as soporific as last time."

The week before, they had spent two hours copying chapters 11 and 18 from the book instead of practicing because Mrs Curtis - who was pregnant from head to toes - had nausea.

\- "If we're lucky, her replacement will already be there", said Wendy encouragingly, as they went across the courtyard to the large room where their favorite class was held.

But there was only a large wardrobe in the room when they entered and the other students were keeping at bay from it, since it twitched on its base and muffled screams were heard inside.

* * *

**_TO BE CONTINUED_**


	6. Hidden Deep Inside

**HIDDEN DEEP INSIDE  
**

* * *

Mrs Curtis went down the steps carefully, hands on both sides of her enormous belly. She was a little witch with brown hair properly tied up under a velvet _bibi_, who wore a very fit dove-gray gown, short and adorned with small pearl buttons. Her high pointy collar was folded behind her neck and her black lace tights were harmonized with her mittens.

\- "Hello, children", she said in her elegant Queen's accent. "Welcome to our last class together."

Some girls complained, but most students were too intrigued by the mysterious wardrobe to be concerned about the announcement.

\- "Today, there will be no boring theory, but some excitement as we'll practice this spell", the professor continued, amused. "Could one of you tell me what's in the wardrobe?"

Terrence raised his hand.

\- "I think it's a Boggart", he said. "A creature that lurks in dark corners and takes the shape of what scares most whoever comes across it."

The woman nodded approvingly.

\- "Very good, Mr. Swanson. Five points to Gryffindor."

Samuel Flinch-Fletchey nudged Craig Finnigan behind Wendy's back.

\- "How much do I _like_ when we're not having class with Ravenclaw!" he whispered. "Swanson's smarter than Weasley, but that mouth of hers is faster than a bladderwort."

Miranda Brown turned and glared at him.

_"Shut up, you dolt. D'you want to make us loose these points right away?" _she mouthed silently_._

Mrs Curtis took a few steps into the room, which seemed strangely empty with the desks pushed to the sides. She patted the wardrobe that continued to shake ferociously.

\- "To be more precise, Boggarts take the shape of your most hidden fear", she explained. "It may be an irrational phobia or even a trauma. This is why, despite the fun side of this class, I will ask you to show the utmost respect for your classmates. We do not always know what scares us the most and you might be surprised."

An uncomfortable buzz ran through the students.

\- "Do we all have to face it? asked Violet Morgensten, pursing her lips. "I don't..."

She shut up when she met the severe glance of their teacher.

\- "_None_ of you will get away from the exercise", said Mrs Curtis coldly. "It may be unpleasant, but mastering defense against a Boggart _will_ help you learn to keep your cool in all circumstances."

She went to the window and cleared her throat.

\- "Well then", she said, sitting on the edge, bothered by her big belly. "Repeat after me: _Riddikulus!_"

The students dutifully obeyed.

\- "Can you imagine if we had had our wands in hand?" chuckled Fabius Macmillan in the ear of Emile Scarecrow, whose face split into an irrepressible smirk. "She could have suddenly found herself in her panties - or _worse_!"

The hubbub fortunately prevented their teacher from hearing, but Scorpius, who was next to Fabius, crushed his toes under his foot.

\- "Did you swear to make us lose the House Cup, or what?" he hissed under his breath.

Macmillan merely shrugged.

\- "_Riddikulus"_, he repeated carelessly.

\- "All right", said the teacher who rose again and stood in front of them. "Now, here's what will happen. You will stand one by one in front of the wardrobe and the boggart will take the shape of your worst nightmare. You will raise your wand and pronounce the incantation. Be careful, though, that's not all it takes. The only thing that can throw off a boggart is ... "

She paused and frowned, staring at Albus who was in front of her.

\- "Mr. Potter, is everything all right?"

Terrence and Wendy, who were standing on each side of their friend, immediately turned their heads toward him.

The green-eyed boy lost countenance.

\- Uh ... yes, yes, I'm fine. Why?"

Mrs Curtis arched her eyebrows.

\- "You don't look so good. It isn't the idea of facing the Boggart that bothers you, I hope?"

Albus blushed at the muffled sneers behind him.

\- "No, not at all, professor!" he said hastily. "I ... it's just that I ... I didn't eat much for breakfast this morning."

It was true, but it still looked like he was lying.

Mrs Curtis glared at him.

\- "Hum. So I was saying", she went on, turning to the wardrobe which frantic shaking had increased. "The only thing that can throw off a boggart is _laughter_. To counterbalance your fears, imagine something totally inept."

Miranda Brown raised her hand.

\- "Could you show us an example, please, Professor?"

The woman seemed about to accept, then she saw something beyond the group of students and her face darkened.

\- "No", she replied dryly. "I'm no Professor Lupin, I do not think it is always necessary to facilitate learning for the students."

\- "Who's that?" Finnigan muttered. "Her replacement?"

Mrs Curtis clapped her hands.

\- "All right, children. Form a line, now! Wands at hand, ladies and gentlemen."

While everyone was pushing and pulling in an excited jabber, Terrence discreetly looked at the back.

\- "Professor Longbottom's here", he whispered, leaning over to his two friends.

Wendy cast a glance toward the door, surprised.

\- "Doesn't he have a class with Slytherin at this hour?"

\- "Maybe he got tired of them and gave them a study on carnivorous plants", Albus said. He was leaning against the wooden pillar of the room and looked like he was trying to disappear.

Wendy cocked her head to the side.

\- "She was right, you _are_ pale", she said in a worried tone.

\- "I'm perfectly fine", Albus shrugged. "It's just that I really - _really_ – don't want to do this stupid exercise."

Terrence smiled. He crossed his arms.

\- "Why? What scares you anyway? And don't tell me it's an animal, because I won't believe you..."

\- "Are you ready, Mr. Finnigan?" asked Mrs Curtis in a loud voice, standing at safe distance from the wardrobe.

She waved her wand and the latch unlocked. The cabinet ceased to move and roar. For a moment, silence filled the room, then the door opened, creaking. A zombie slipped out, his face dripping with green slimy goo, dirty bandages loose on his arms.

\- "_Ri ... Riddikulus_!" Craig mumbled.

There was a resounding _CRACK!_ and the zombie found himself wearing a pineapple-peach melba hat.

Samuel Flinch-Fletchey, who was behind Finnigan, burst into forced laughter, then turned pale as the boggart suddenly changed into a swarm of giant wasps that chased after him.

\- "_Riddikulus_!"

_CRACK!_

The wasps tumbled on the floor, bouncing, turned into gumdrops.

\- "What's with wasps?" Wendy muttered, bewildered.

\- "He's allergic", said Terrence, looking more and more interested in the exercise.

While the Boggart changed into a rabid dog then into a meowing dog in front of Sandie Morgensten, Albus leaned back further in his corner, sitting almost on the wooden floor.

\- "I think I'm freaking out a little bit", said Wendy in a slightly pitched voice while observing Emile Scarecrow make a pterodactyl skeleton do tap dance.

Terrence's smile widened.

\- "Why? You're the bravest girl I know! Or craziest, maybe."

She gave him a shove.

\- "It's just that this creature gets you by _surprise_! Say, I'm scared of crawling bugs, but who knows, it might just change into my cousin Diana when she had her foot crushed by a car. It was _horrible_! I don't want to go through that again either..."

\- "And I'm sure it will turn into _James _when it's my turn_"_, Albus said through clenched teeth, his head down. "I _hate_ that. The whole school will know and it'll be a living hell ..."

Terrence affectionately tousled his friend's hair.

\- "Don't worry. I'm sure no one will have time to notice. Imagine him turning into a super ugly thing. A baby mandrake or a weasel."

\- "You all right, Potter?" whispered Professor Longbottom, who had made his way to them. "Mrs Abbot told me she was not very pleased with you. You were supposed to r_eturn to the infirmary_ this morning, not to _go to class_. I know you're a rather conscientious student, but I have difficulty understanding why a fifteen years old _healthy_ teenager would disregard a golden opportunity to miss school..."

There was some irritation in his tone.

\- "I'm sorry, sir", Albus said, rising up awkwardly. "But I'm fine, I promise... I ..."

A scream interrupted him.

\- "Do not panic, Miss Caradoc", intervened quietly Professor Curtis, while the girl slumped to the floor, shaking with chills, her bulging eyes staring at the half-vampire, half-goblin thing coming to her breathing heavily. "Think of something ridiculous. Say the incantation and believe in it strongly ..."

But Jane shook her head, tears streaming down her face, and crawled back farther.

Mrs Curtis sighed.

\- "Mr. Malfoy, on to you. Step forward, please!"

Scorpius obeyed, his back straight and his face stiff.

The boggart swirled into a greenish haze of smoke, then changed into a forty years old man, tall and slim, dressed in a white shirt. His blond hair was slicked back and he had aristocratic features. He would have been handsome if his face had not been distorted by a half-desperate, half-hateful smirk.

\- "Who's this?" Wendy whispered. "He looks like ..."

\- "Scorpius", finished Albus. "Maybe it's his father?"

The man was pulling up his shirt's sleeve and Malfoy was blanching visibly, his eyes staring at the ghostly figure, completely petrified.

\- "What does he have on his arm?" asked Terrence, rising on tiptoe to see over Fabius Macmillan's head.

There was something black, like a sort of half-erased inscription on the man's arm.

The students began to whisper: this was not scary, it was just ... weird.

Neville Longbottom made his way through the group and put his hand on Scorpius' shoulder.

\- "Calm down, Mr. Malfoy", he said gently. "Take your time, you can do it."

Scorpius swallowed hard. He pointed his wand at the blonde man who winced.

\- "_Riddikulus_!" he uttered.

_CRACK!_

The strange mark changed into a sailor tattoo, a red heart pierced by a roughly drawn anchor.

Mrs Curtis frowned.

\- "I would be _grateful_ if you did _not_ intervene in my class, Neville", she said icily.

Professor Longbottom pulled away with an embarrassed smile.

\- "I'm sorry, Mauritia, I meant no harm", he said while the Boggart took the shape of a hairy, wet rat in front of Violet Morgensten who began to squeal.

\- "_Riddikulus, riddikulus, riddikulus_!"

_CRACK!_

The rat was suddenly wearing pink curlers.

The line of students who had not yet passed in front of the Boggart had decreased significantly. Scorpius, still in shock, sat next to Jane Caradoc who was blowing her nose as if she was trying to choke herself to death. The others looked at them from a little distance, whispering among themselves.

Albus, looking like a death row prisoner, followed behind Terrence who was getting in line with a thrill of excitement. Wendy was behind them. She was bitting her lower lip nervously.

\- "What are you doing here, Neville?" gritted Mrs Curtis, keeping her eyes on the 4th year.

\- "I came to get Potter", the man replied calmly. "He's sick and should be in the infirmary."

\- "Since when is it your job to assist Mrs Abbot?" snorted the woman. "Don't make me laugh. Apparently Potter had fun during the night with his roommates who behave like infamous baboons, that's all. I don't know why you're so indulgent with some of your students. It will be of no use for them later on."

_CRACK!_

She lifted her chin, looking very much displeased, her arms crossed over her big belly like an angry chubby gerbil.

Neville Longbottom suppressed a grin despite the anxiety that seemed to gnaw at his heart.

\- "Mauritia, you _know_ I'm not doing this..." he tried again.

Terrence, who was watching the dialogue, trying to read their lips as they muttered, was forced to divert his attention when Kevin Mordecrat stepped aside.

The Boggart whirled into a cloud of gray smoke then changed into a dragon. The blond teenager suddenly felt like he was six again and watching, terrified, a giant lizard suddenly bursting out his storybook.

\- "Uh-uh..."

He stepped back almost despite himself.

_Shiny bronze scales, dilated nostrils, a steel tail, the spine covered with sharp quills, empty eyes like opals..._

The dragon let out a torrent of flames and Terrence swallowed wrong.

_It's okay. I'm fine. It's not burning for real. I'm not six, this is not the first time I see magic and I have _a wand_ in hand._

He raised his arm.

\- "_Riddikulus_!" he said firmly.

_CRACK!_

The dragon stepped on his wing and stumbled. He fell without elegance and found himself on his back, whining, making Terrence almost want to pat his belly like you'd do to a good doggie.

\- "Your turn", he said with a smile, stepping aside to let Albus come forth.

Professor Longbottom got up and almost tripped over when Mrs Curtis caught him by the sleeve.

\- "You will _not_ stop Potter from doing the exercise", she hissed, outraged. "I had his brother before him and I _know_ he will not make Voldemort appear!"

\- "You don't understand, Mauritia", stammered Neville. "Albus is - _different_ ..."

She glared at him, but he was not looking, staring at the yellow smoke that billowed above the floor.

A silhouette with messy hair began to take shape and Wendy prayed for Albus to be fast enough to cast the spell before the others would recognize his brother.

Terrence clenched his fists in his pockets as if it could have helped.

_Come on, Al ... who cares for James. He's a jerk. You shouldn't compare to him, you're worth him a thousand times ... I don't know why you have this inferiority complex, but..._

The figure was slowly looming out - and it was _not_ James. It was a man of thirty, with the same mop of black hair, the same sharp features and the same way of standing with his pelvis slightly askew.

He was wearing a jacket with fur on the hood and held his wand. Behind his round glasses, his green eyes were filled with despair.

\- "Hey, it's James Potter's father, there was his picture on the front page of the _Daily Prophet_ the day before yesterday", said Fabius Macmillan, intrigued.

Craig Finnigan gave him a nudge.

\- "You dummy", he whispered. "If it's James's father, it's also _Albus_'s, git."

\- "Oh, it's _Harry Potter"_, cried Violet. "They say he will be the next Minister of Magic!"

The whispers swelled in the room in seconds.

Albus was still standing in front of the Boggart and looked at him blankly.

Cold sweat was running down his back and his fingers trembled on his wand, but he did not know why.

_It was his father._

_His father whom he adored, in whom he had complete trust._

Neville tried to free his arm.

\- "Oh no - nonononono ..." he muttered a broken voice.

But Professor Curtis did not let go.

Terrence looked at Scorpius who had stood up, his eyes widening too.

The man in the smoke raised his wand and opened his mouth.

\- "_Avada Keda_ ..." he yelled, just before Neville rushed to Albus and sent the boggart back in the wardrobe with a blow of magic that lit up the whole room.

The door slammed shut and the wardrobe began rumbling and shaking furiously again.

Terrence realized he had held his breath and breathed in, his heart pounding.

\- "Albus!" cried Wendy, catching the green-eyed boy who was deadly pale, as he swayed on his feet.

A wand fell to the floor and rolled away slowly.

\- "What does this mean?" Mrs Curtis articulated in an unsteady voice.

Professor Longbottom did not answer. He had turned to Albus and took out of his pocket a chocolate bar that he was breaking into pieces. The woman put a strand of hair behind her ear to compose herself then took a few steps towards the students that remained stunned.

\- "Class... class is over", she said. "You, uh. You can take your stuff and – off you go."

Scorpius was approaching hesitantly when Albus suddenly freed the arm Wendy was holding and fled the room, clasping a hand on his mouth. Terrence hurried behind him, almost immediately followed by the girl.

Neville Longbottom watched them leave and ran a hand over his aghast face.

\- "What did we do …?" he stuttered. "Oh, Harry ... What did we do ...?"

The sun was streaming into the vast almost empty room and slid over the wooden floor.

The wardrobe continued to shake like a crazy prisoner behind bars.

The students left the room one after the other in a heavy silence barely disturbed by their whispers.

Mauritia Curtis was putting away books that did not need to be tidied up on the window sill.

Scorpius Malfoy picked up the wand that had fallen to the ground and left the last, after a glance at the Herbology teacher who seemed suddenly very tired.

In the boys' bathroom, down the hall, Albus was throwing up, leaning over the sink, his knuckles white, his hands clenched on the porcelain. Wendy was at his side and rubbed his back gently, tears welling up in her eyes. Terrence was leaning back against the wall of the toilet cubicles, his arms crossed, and waited silently.

Albus finally turned on the water. His back was shivering and from the way he sputtered and half choked, you would have thought he was crying. He rinsed his mouth and copiously splattered his face.

\- "You okay ...?" Wendy asked in a small worried voice, handing him a tissue.

His hair dripping, Albus turned his head toward her and she bit her lip.

His jaw was contracted, he was even paler than before and the drops rolling down his cheeks continuously had nothing to do with the cold tap water.

\- "It's okay, Al", said Terrence quietly, from where he was standing.

Albus turned to him and the movement made him sway. He caught himself on the edge of the sink. His legs were shaking. His hand went up to his chest and tightened on his wet sweater.

\- "Why?" he rasped. "What have I'..."

He winced and doubled over.

\- "Al!" Wendy yelped helplessly. "Al, you okay? Does it hurt? Is it from yesterday?"

Terrence had jumped to them and grabbed his friend to keep him from falling.

\- "Al, breathe, mate, okay? It will be fine. I _promise_ you will be fine. We'll clear it up. There's got to be a rational explanation as to why he... why he ..."

The words had difficulty passing his lips.

His fingers clutched convulsively on his sweater, Albus looked up.

\- "Why my dad tried to kill me", he finished, panting.

Next to the bathroom door, invisible, a grim Scorpius was leaning back against the wall, Albus' wand in his hand.

* * *

**_TO BE CONTINUED_**


	7. Albus, Scorpius, Severus

**ALBUS, SCORPIUS, SEVERUS  
**

* * *

The door wasn't shut properly and they had not noticed. Their voices could be heard rather well from the hallway and Wendy, for once, would have preferred that adults kept their conversation private.

\- "... That's ridiculous!"

\- "Notify the Ministry ..."

\- "... All this time ..."

\- "... Let parents have their ways on the school grounds ..."

\- "... Ever ..."

\- "... Even when those children were petrified!"

\- "Harry Potter ... or anyone else ..."

\- "... An Unforgivable Curse!"

\- "... It's not the same! Albus ..."

\- "... Unthinkable!"

\- "... Specifically asked us not to make a difference!"

\- "... It's a force majeure ..."

\- "... But exactly what does it ..."

\- "... Impossible!"

\- "... How could he recover from it without ..."

\- "... Not for us to say ..."

Professor Longbottom: _pleading_. The voice of the director of Hogwarts, Minerva McGonagall: _severe and worried at the same time_. Professor Wood: _completely lost_. Mrs Curtis: _upset_. Luna Lovegood: _dreamy but concerned_. Nurse Abbot... _definitely on Neville's side_.

Sitting under the arch on the windowsill, Wendy sighed. She pulled her knees under her chin and put her hands over her ears.

_I hate it, I hate it, I hate it..._

_Why couldn't things remain as they were before?_

_We didn't need adventure, drama or troubling past..._

_We were doing okay, like this..._

In front of her, Terrence was leaning back against the wall, his arms crossed, one foot against the ancient stones, his round glasses pushed up on his forehead, a sign that he was thinking intensively. The golden spike on his head looked like an insect feeler more than ever.

_The flower-shaped scar. The nightmare. The purring, the ferret feeling all better, the elves..._

_A horrible memory, buried and forgotten, in which his father cast an Unforgivable Curse..._

_That was a lot to take in._

He had trouble himself to swallow everything, so how could Albus cope with it?

_Albus for who was difficult even the idea of competing with the other houses._

_Albus who most people forgot, busy watching James or listening to Lily._

_Albus who never said a word louder than the other, asked for nothing, gave everything._

_"Albus Severus Potter, son of Harry Potter."_

Terrence never thought of him that way.

_Al._

_The boy with green eyes that looked into the depths of your soul._

_The quiet bloke who had an extraordinary power and did not even realize it._

_My best friend._

He made his glasses fell back to their place with a flick and sighed seeing Wendy prostrated in front of him. He was opening his mouth to tell her not to listen to the snippets of the argument that escaped from Mrs Abbot's office, when Neville Longbottom stormed into the hallway.

He was breathing heavily. He took a few steps, rubbing his neck angrily, put his hands on his hips then in his pockets, turned on his heels, biting his lips, his eyes to the ground.

\- "Professor?" Wendy called shyly.

He looked up and took in the presence of the two students with some difficulty.

\- "Mr. Philips ... Miss Swanson ..."

\- "Excuse me, sir", said Terrence, trying to catch the erratic gaze of the man, "Will Al's father ... I mean, will Mr. Potter come to Hogwarts?"

\- "What's happening with Al?" Wendy asked pleadingly.

Neville looked away. His fingers were fidgeting with the corner of his white coat.

\- "You should be in class", he said in a feverish tone. "Go back to your rooms, have lunch. It's not your business. Leave him be."

He cast a nervous glance around him.

\- "Where's Albus?"

Terrence shrugged.

\- "Some place. _Leave him be"_, he retorted.

Wendy's eyes widened at such insolence, but Professor Longbottom merely let go of a long sigh.

He put his hand on Terrence's shoulder.

\- "When he comes back from the gallery, tell him to come to my office. I guess he won't return to the infirmary ..."

He walked down the hallway, his shoulders hunched like an old man, then stopped and turned around.

His sad and gentle eyes locked with Terrence's fierce gaze.

\- "All I want is to protect him, Swanson. Just like you."

Wendy came to the blond teenager when the man was gone.

\- "How did he know about the gallery?" she whispered.

Terrence took off his glasses and wiped them on a corner of his shirt that stuck out from under his sweater.

\- "I suppose in three and a half years, there's at least one teacher who realized that Al had a life of his own."

\- "Or maybe there're cameras somewhere..."

Terrence patted her head patronizingly.

\- "There's no camera, Philips. This is a _magical_ school."

He felt just a teensy bit better.

* * *

oOoOoOo

* * *

Albus got rid of the dirty water and the withered flowers through the window overlooking the lawn where the first years learnt to fly. He put water in the high white vase and threw in a handful of seeds.

The sun came in waves through the vast open windows and the stained glass reflections were dancing in sparkling scrolls on the paintings' moldings along the hallway. Draperies in the colors of the four houses softly rippled in the breeze. On the shelf in front of each picture were placed small gifts, messages, photo frames, toys or candies, sometimes a teddy bear, often flowers.

The gallery was very long and very quiet.

People came there on the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts, at the end of the school year, but the rest of the time it was empty.

In the air hung the smell of soap, of parchment and ink, licorice and leather, the very sweet scent of memories.

Albus whispered the incantation with a delicate flip of his wand, then watched the lilies grow in the vase and open their cream-colored petals like if they were smiling.

He put the vase next to the last picture of the gallery, wiped empty shelf with the flat of his hand, then stepped back.

He sat in the middle of the thick brown and golden carpet and that covered the tiles of the corridor and crossed his legs before him. Lifting his chin, he looked at the portrait in front of him for a long time, before letting out a big sigh.

In the frame, the man dressed in a black collar raised an eyebrow. His eyes were scrutinizing the boy attentively.

Albus put his arms around his knees and sighed again.

The pain was still there in his chest, but more distant, muffled, hidden.

He blew on a black loop that fell in front of his eye. In the painting, the man with bony cheeks gave a little nod and threw back his greasy dark hair. He kept looking patiently at the teenager.

\- "I'm in trouble, you know", finally said Albus.

His interlocutor's brow bounced.

\- "No, it's not my fault. Well ... I don't think it is."

Tears welled up in the emerald eyes.

\- "What kind of wrong could have I done that my dad would want to _kill_ me?"

In the frame, the man's shoulders had stiffened. He pondered for a while, bringing his hand mechanically to his thin lips - which made him look really severe - and then cocked his head to the side.

\- "I ... I don't know exactly what happened", Albus mumbled as if he had understood the unspoken question. "I ... it was just a flash. He had his wand and ..."

He closed his eyes, as if to brace for the impact.

\- "I don't understand ..." he stuttered. "He loves me, he would never do that ... right?"

It was a cry - almost a sob.

On the painting, wrinkles painfully dug around the dark eyes gazing at the boy. There was only silence. Dust particles glittered in the sunlight, falling slowly, as if out of gravity.

Albus finally lifted his chin. He wiped his nose with his sleeve.

\- "And there's more."

The eyes of the portrait flashed briefly, a little ironic, like a proud answer to the fragile bravery of the voice.

Albus put his hand on the warm spot on his chest. He could feel it even through the layers of his shirt and jumper. The scar was there, throbbing like a living bird.

\- "There's a something weird happening to me ... it hurts ... and at the same time ..."

He tried to gather the so different, so complicated feelings.

\- "I don't...I… I'm not scared – I think. Not of this ..."

His mouth twitched like one of a child trying to hide his pain.

\- "But my dad ... _why_ ..."

The man in the painting nodded thoughtfully. His sharp profile was lost in a long cogitation, then he turned again to the teenager, interrogatively.

\- "I don't know what Terrence thinks of this strange scar", immediately replied Albus.

The portrait rolled his eyes and the teenager smiled despite himself.

\- "Yes, I know. He's three times smarter than me and ..."

Again the sly bouncing of the eyebrows.

\- "Okay, _ten times _smarter. I'll talk to him, I promise."

Tenderness drew over the sharp features and Albus' green eyes clung to the dark eyes.

\- "And I'm going to trust my dad until he tells me ..."

The sun was sliding gold threads in the folds of the austere sleeves of the wizard.

The teenager heaved another sigh, feeling a bit relieved. He unlocked the fingers he had tightly interlaced on his knees and put his hands on the carpet, rocking back slightly. He stretched out his legs and felt his shoulders relax a little.

\- "Severus ..."

In the gray painting, the pale man dressed in black waited patiently.

\- "Wouldn't it be nice if you were one of my teachers ..."

A burst of silent laughter brightened in the eyes of the portrait. He quickly shook his chin.

\- "What? You think I'd be afraid of you?"

Albus chuckled, exhausted by the storm of emotions he had been through since the day before.

\- "No way!"

Someone cleared his throat quietly.

\- "Sorry to interrupt ... can I join you?"

Scorpius Malfoy was standing there awkwardly, his hands thrust deep in his pockets, his almost white bangs slicked back, looking down.

Albus exchanged a glance with the painting and nodded.

Scorpius sat next to him, cross-legged. He wiped his sweaty palms on his thighs and put his hands on his knees, his neck stiff, as he examined the portrait in front of Albus.

\- "I know him", he said after awhile, narrowing his dark eyebrows. "I saw him once in my father's old school pictures. But he looked much more creepy."

Albus smiled.

\- "He was a director of Hogwarts", he says proudly. "I was named after him."

Scorpius recorded the information without blinking. He looked around, then turned back to the green-eyed teenager.

\- "D'you come here often?"

Albus nodded silently.

\- "Why?"

The pearl gray eyes of Malfoy were a little surprised, behind their usual disdainful stare.

Albus took a deep breath before answering.

\- "I like it, that's all."

His chin pointed at the painting in front of them, in which the man was watching them – looking totally bewildered.

\- "I like to talk to him. When I'm not quite sure about something, or when I feel down... well ... I come here, and, after, it gets better."

Scorpius looked a little shocked.

\- "Why are you talking to a bloke who _died_ and who won't even answer? When you have Terrence and Wendy!"

It was a reproach, clearly, but Albus was not shaken.

\- "We're the same age. You and me and them, we never had to make difficult choices. We have not even _lived_ yet, we're so young. Here ... you see. There's my Uncle Fred, Tonks and Remus... And the others. I wish I could meet them. I… It's ... the people who died in that battle, they _knew_ what they were doing.

Scorpius pulled a face.

\- "Half of them _are_ our age! It's almost only Hogwarts students, with a few teachers and some Aurors."

He hesitated.

\- "Sometimes, you sound awfully older than you are, Al."

Albus smiled again.

\- "Sorry."

He paused, then sat up and rubbed the sore spot pulsing under his sweater.

\- "You've been here before, right?"

Scorpius blushed. He swallowed and smoothed a strand peeling from his neat hairstyle.

The man dressed in black, in the painting, rolled his eyes again and shook his head.

-"You're the one bringing lilies, isn't it?"

Albus nodded, then frowned.

\- "My father asked me to, the first time I told him I was coming to the gallery."

Scorpius wrinkled his nose, looking thoughtful.

\- "Your father knew him too, then."

\- "Hum."

They stayed a moment staring at the portrait who seemed to find it highly uncomfortable and who crossed his arms sternly.

Albus chuckled again, as if the attitude really seemed incongruous, but Scorpius glared at the man.

\- "If he was a director, he should be in McGonagall's office, isn't it?" he said after a moment. "And why isn't he talking?"

\- "None of the portraits is speaking, in the gallery", said thoughtfully Albus. "You're right, though. James said he was not in the director's office."

Scorpius snorted - and the picture shared the feeling with him.

\- "How does James know that? Has he been already called up there?"

Albus grinned.

-" Yep."

Malfoy was silent for a moment, pulling on a thread at the hem of his pants.

\- "It's not likely to happen to you, though", he finally said, his voice slightly muffled.

Albus looked at him intently.

\- "And neither to you", he finally added.

For a few seconds the whole gallery stood frozen, then they giggled together.

\- "That's right", Scorpius said.

Albus turned again to the painting, dreamily.

\- "We behave a lot better than our fathers did, don't you think?"

The portrait nodded vigorously. There was almost a drop of sweat on his pale forehead.

Outside, the sun was beginning to decline and the light was tarnishing. The breeze was a little fresher.

Scorpius put his elbow on his knee and rested his chin in his palm.

\- "Al?"

\- "Hmm?"

The blond boy gathered all his courage. He bit his lips, then locked his gray orbs with the emerald irises.

\- "Your father ... certainly ... if he really did... he regrets it, I'm sure."

Albus did not move. He did not turn his head. He swallowed hard, then gently asked:

\- "What's on _your_ father's arms, Scorpius?"

Malfoy winced.

It was his turn to look down. In the frame, the man dressed in black robes was contemplating the two teenagers with an infinitely sad gaze.

\- "It's ... uh. A ... it's called the Dark Mark. The ... Voldemort's followers… the Death Eaters… They had it tattooed on their arms."

He pursed his lips and looked up fiercely.

\- "But my father, he –"

His voice broke as he met the green eyes that were not judging.

\- "He… didn't want all these horrible things to happen, Al! He decided he wouldn't be part of _that_... And ..."

His words were all mumbled up.

\- "My father, he regrets. Sometimes when he looks at his arm, I think he wants to cut it. He never said anything, but ..."

Albus reached out, gently, as if he did not want to scare the other boy, as if he felt that Malfoy was about to flee. His fingers touched the trembling blond teen's shoulder.

\- "I understand ..." he whispered.

It was not true. It could not be true, since they had experienced nothing like war, because they were so different, so far from what had happened.

But something very sweet, very pure, infinitely large and imperceptible, like a wing, touched Scorpius' shoulder.

The scent of lilies was filling the hallway bathed in gold by the setting sun and everything was silent.

In the painting, something was shining in the corner of the eye of the man with hollow cheeks and dark hair.

Scorpius heaved a long sigh and Albus removed his hand slowly.

\- "Thank you", he said simply.

It was Malfoy's turn to stifle a fragile little laugh.

\- "You're just too weird", he began. "You ..."

Albus suddenly groaned and curled up. He collapsed to the side, to the horror of the other boy.

\- "Al! Hey, wait. You ..."

Scorpius knelt by his side feverishly. He did not know what to do.

Suddenly, it was very dark and very cold and Albus' green eyes seemed to be the only bright thing.

Malfoy cradled his forehead in his hands, bit his lip, reached out, half-got up as if to go look for help.

Albus' hand grabbed his wrist.

His eyes were pleading. _Terrified_. He writhed in a pain so strong that he could not even moan. His teeth were so tight that they were screeching.

Scorpius felt his own sweating, cold, dripping between his shoulder blades. He looked around frantically. The portraits were all gone - empty - only black cloths were still hanging on the walls.

There was no one else but him.

He wanted to flee, but he was pinned down.

He wanted to call for help but his dry throat did not produce a sound.

_Don't you die, Al._

_Please don't. Please, please, please._

Albus stiffened. A red streak trickled down his chin.

He let go of a hoarse cry of pain and Scorpius shut his eyes as if it could prevent him from hearing.

Then he opened them again, when he felt something touching his cheek.

_Everything was so dark._

It looked like a pillow filled with black feathers had exploded in the gallery.

Albus' body arched violently and Malfoy fell on him, his wrist crushed by the boy's fingers. Thunder blasted above the castle and the sound enveloped everything, smashing and beautiful.

Then all was quiet again. The clouds dispersed, the light came back, peaceful and gentle, caressing the lawn outside.

The students, who had been squatting under their schoolbags and books, got up, surprised not to feel any rain. The teachers rekindled the candles that were extinguished on their desks.

In the highest room of the Gryffindor tower, Terrence put down his book and went to the window and to glance at the lake: the waves were slowly settling back, hemmed by silvery foam.

Wendy crouched down and picked up the remains of the clay pot she had dropped. Professor Longbottom was looking up through the glass roof of the greenhouses, not listening to her apology. He looked deeply troubled.

James let out a whistle, the time to compose himself. He was quite happy he had not been on his broom when the thunder blast had happened. Sandeszki had been thrown off like a sandbag.

Lily shrugged off the uneasiness and leaned down to pick up her spoon. She resumed eating her pumpkin compote while commenting on the last _Witch Weekly_ with Alison Corner in the Great Hall.

It was the evening of an ordinary day.

_Everything was perfectly normal._

Slowly, the gallery was emerging out of the darkness and the people in the paintings were coming back, except for the man with the dark robes and the pale skin.

\- "Sorry ... sorry, I did not mean to hurt you ... " Scorpius muttered, sitting up, anxious at the idea of having worsened Albus' state.

He froze. Blood was throbbing in his ears, deafening, as if he was going to faint.

\- "Al?"

His husky voice seemed so strange in the silence.

He reached out, swallowing hard.

His mind was working at full speed, so fast that he could feel his thoughts rattling in his skull.

\- "Al? That ... is _that_ you?"

His fingers were trembling.

He hesitated.

Then two green eyes split by a stroke of gold opened in the dark and stared at him.

* * *

**_TO BE CONTINUED_**


	8. Difficult choices

**DIFFICULT CHOICES**

* * *

Harry slammed the letter on his desk. He clasped his hands in front of his mouth and inhaled deeply.

_This was madness. Fat lot of rubbish._

For an hour and a half, now, owls had not stop knocking at his window and the mail they brought was making less and less sense.

First a letter from James:

**_"Dad, we better quickly set up a crisis cell. Al has created a diplomatic incident ..."_**

James scarcely _answered_ his parents' letters, it was unthinkable that he would write on his own initiative.

Then an envelope with the seal of Hogwarts had arrived.

**_"Dear Mr. Potter,_**

**_ I have the regret to inform you that due to recent events, the schooling of your son Albus Severus Potter could be seriously disrupted ..."_**

Followed by two feet of parchment covered with Neville Longbotom's erratic handwriting.

**_"Harry, if we had known… we should have foreseen ... should have told him. We could not imagine it would turn out like this, but it would not have been too late if ..."_**

That sounded like the bitter words a very old man had said, years ago, in a room only lit by the fireplace.

_"If I had known ... I did not think ... I should have explained at this point ... I did not have the courage to tell you at the time ..."_

Adult apologies to a child who did not know grown-ups had marked his past and decided of his future.

Harry swallowed hard.

Memos revolved around his desk lamp like moths. Earlier, Ginny had burst into his office with a letter from Lily.

\- "HARRY, WHAT DID YOU DO TO ALBUS THAT DAY? WHAT DID YOU DO TO _MY_ SON?"

Her eyes were furious, disappointed, betrayed, anguished. She was hysterical and he did not know what to say. Now that she was gone - he hoped she would be a little calmer when he'd go home - he tried to find rational explanations.

_Yes, he was wrong, because he had kept quiet for such a long time and still was._

_Yes, he deserved that look._

The one he had deliberately chosen to avoid by not telling her anything.

_But how to tell her the decision taken at the top of the snowy mountain ... Charlie's story and what Neville had seen...?_

Ginny was Albus' mother. A _mum_ would have never believed the dragon. She would have ... yes, like Lily once - _surely_ \- she would have rather died instead of her child.

**_"Sometimes I woke up suddenly at night and I heard Charlie's voice:" Harry is going to kill Albus, Neville " and I wondered... I really wondered if everything had been over that day. And now I know it wasn't over. We should have known, Harry. He wasn't going to give us Albus' life without something in return... "_**

Neville's sentences overlapped on the parchment, tight and black and distraught.

Harry closed his eyes.

_That day, though, I took the right decision. I made the right choice..._

Someone quietly knocked on the door and he looked up.

\- "Come in", he called wearily.

Kingsley Shacklebolt popped his head inside.

\- "Harry? Can I talk to you for a moment?"

Harry rose mechanically and offered the minister of magic the velvet armchair beside the small table.

\- "I think it is necessary", he whispered.

The wizard shook his turbaned head, his eyes staring at the envelopes piled up on the desk.

\- "I see you've received just as much mail as I did in the last half hour ..."

\- "I'm sorry ..." muttered Potter, taking off his glasses to wipe them with his sleeve, like a schoolboy.

Shacklebolt smiled.

\- "If this had not reached the ears of journalists, I would have given you some time. But now I really need to know your own version of this story."

He sat back in the armchair, joined his hands on his chest and his quiet brown eyes gazed at the young man who sat across him, still as slim as he was when they had met the first time.

\- "Explain why you're accused of casting an Unforgivable Curse _on your own son_ and how it is that the rumors spread _from Hogwarts_."

Harry sighed for the umpteenth time.

It was the story of his life.

_Explain, always explain._

All eyes on him.

Being branded a monster by those he loved most.

And protecting dark secrets in order for the light to keep shining over the world.

* * *

oOoOoOo

* * *

Terrence had followed the house elf a little reluctantly at first.

_"The young Mister Malfoy asked Fetloack to take you there, sir, but Fetloack thinks - oh, oh oh - it is not a place for an elf let alone a wizard ... the… it's ... Fetloack is honored coz he has seen Him - yes, yes, yes - but he would not like to be seen, Mr. Swanson - oh, that, no, for sure. It would not be proper. It would be too much."_

The boy had wondered what could put the small gray creature in such a fretful state.

Then the elf had mentioned how he worried about the "young master", wringing his skinny hands and Terrence had picked him up and started to run.

The house elves rarely showed themselves to the students and even though Fetloack had decided to give a hand to Scorpius, it remained very unexpected. But they _loved_ Albus and gave him all sorts of titles, vying for his attention.

There were tons of "young misters", but there was one _young master_ at Hogwarts - and he didn't fancy much to be called like this.

Terrence had climbed the stairs leading to the gallery four at once, the elf tucked under his arm.

\- "F-f-fe-e-et-lo-o-oack w-w-would l-l-like t-t-to b-b-be p-p-ut d-d-down!"

The double door was closed and Terrence hurled himself against it, hammering it with his fists.

\- "Scorpius! Malfoy, I know you're in here! _Open up_! Albus! Malfoy, get your arse here and open up!"

He had quieted down when words had appeared on the wooden doors, in ephemeral magic letters.

**_"Shut up. I'll open. Count to ten and make sure you're as CALM as you can get."_**

Next to him, the elf who had rolled on the tiles when he had been released from the arm lock, had gotten up and started on carefully smoothing back to normal his parabolic ears.

\- "Fetloack. What are they doing in there? What happened?"

The bulging eyes of the creature had stared owlishly at him.

\- "The young Mr. Malfoy ..."

\- "_Fetloack_!" Terrence had shouted impatiently.

In response, the elf had fled down the stairs, squealing, instead of disappearing in a snap of fingers.

_And now the teenager understood better why he had acted so hyper._

He turned to Scorpius and did not have to speak.

\- "It just happened like that, I did nothing", retorted the blonde. "I was losing it and then suddenly the bloke in the portrait – the one at the end of the line, with the big nose – came back in his painting with an elf that was completely nuts and wouldn't shut up. I didn't know what to do, I thought ... that if someone was going to get you, you'd know."

\- "An elf?" Terrence finally repeated hoarsely. "Who was _speaking_? In the _gallery_?"

Scorpius nodded, frowning, lighting the candles on the chandelier above them with his wand that trembled a little.

\- "Yes. Dolly, or Bob, I dunno, a name like that. Anyway, apparently there's a picture of him somewhere in the castle and the elves know him well. Well, he died, but - rah, I don't care, all I know is he offered to send one of his mates to get you and that was okay by me because I couldn't see how I'd left _him_ on his own in here!"

The voice of the blond boy had gone high-pitched at the end of his sentence and Terrence quickly put his hand on his arm.

\- "_He_'s looking at us", he whispered.

\- "That's what _he_'s been doing for the last half hour", Scorpius scowled back. "Do something, Swanson. He's your best friend. You got to have a way to get through to him."

Terrence swallowed hard.

\- "Problem is… I'm not quite sure _he_ still knows who we are... _He_ seems completely lost."

On the painting at the end of the gallery, the pale man in a black high collar was watching them, as if waiting to see how the teenager was going to handle the challenge.

Terrence clenched his fists.

_Don't be scared. Don't look for explanations at the moment. If Al's in there, _somewhere_, he must be terrified. Help him. Go get him, don't be a big baby._

He closed his eyes then opened them again.

_I can do it. He's my best friend. He's waiting for me - he trusts me._

He straightened up and smiled feebly.

\- "Hey", he called softly.

He reached out and took a step forward.

_I'm okay. I'm not six anymore. I can do it. I can face my fear._

Except that even a perfectly executed "Riddikulus" was not likely to solve the problem.

Scorpius gasped.

In the darkness, the candlelight glinted in the green eyes of the dragon, like small golden hot sparks.

His ears folded back, the creature carefully watched as Terrence approached. His massive shoulders rolled back and his spine arched. His long jet black wings unfurled and his ace of spades-shaped tail swiftly swept the carpet.

\- "Be careful ..." breathed Malfoy to whom the motion reminded of an angry cat.

\- "Hi there ..." Terrence murmured, trying to push to the back of his mind the image of the fire-breathing lizard who had appeared before him during DADA class.

_I mean you no harm ... I just want to know if you're Al..._

His fingers were almost touching the black satin muzzle.

_Please, don't hurt him... give me back my best friend…_

The dragon snorted and suddenly sneezed.

He took a small step back, startled by the sound he had produced and stumbled on one of his wings. He tumbled back and his confused big head bumped against the wall on which were hung the paintings. Several things toppled off the shelves and the fluffy ears of the animal flickered, worried, as he opened his golden split green eyes, sitting up clumsily.

Terrence laughed and Scorpius could not help grinning too.

The dragon tilted his head to the side, looking a little puzzled. He got up smoothly and his whiskers twitched. He stared at the teenager who had just removed his glasses and was cleaning them on his sweater.

The dragon began a cautious groveling approach maneuver along the wall.

\- "Malfoy, don't you think he looks a big kitty?"

Scorpius shook his head, never letting his eyes off the animal which was slowly coming closer to Terrence.

\- "Be careful, though ... he's bigger than you. If he gets angry, he will have no trouble turning your head into a quaffle."

The other boy grinned.

\- "He won't hurt us."

He crouched down and held out his hand again.

\- "Come on, boy."

The candlelight gleamed on the shimmering ebony fur of the dragon flattened on the carpet. He wrinkled his nose, blinked as he carefully observed Terrence then crawled towards him, swaying his tail like a happy doggie.

\- "You're so ridiculous" giggled the teenager. "Look at you, mate ..."

He let the dragon sniff his fingers and nuzzle in his palm.

\- "He likes you, I reckon", breathed Malfoy, a little stunned, still at cautious distance.

Terrence scratched behind one of the fluffy ears and got exactly what he expected: a gleeful purr rose in the throat of the animal.

\- "That wasn't so difficult…"

Scorpius shrugged disdainfully.

\- I touched him before you - not on purpose at first. But I think I scared him when I started screaming. It _was_ a shock to see that Al had _turned into a dragon_, see.

The high pitch of his voice made the other boy laugh, but the man in the portrait rolled his eyes.

\- "It's not funny, Swanson. Albus looked like he was in horrible pain and everything went black ... it was _really_ scary, I had never felt magic like _that_ \- all around me, everywhere."

Terrence went serious. He gazed at the dragon who had his big paws curled under his crop of dark fur and was still purring, eyelids half shut.

\- "D'you think he knew he could turn into – _this_?" Scorpius asked. "He was acting perfectly normal, we just chatting, and then ... it's not something usual, even in the wizarding world! Do you reckon it was because of the ... well. Because of what his father was trying to do to him?"

Terrence did not answer. He was deep in thought, not noticing that his fingers were playing absently with a silky handful of black fur.

_The pain and the scar._

_A nightmare._

_"Dad, no, Daddy, please ..."_

_The Boggart._

_And now this._

He sighed.

\- "Don't you have an idea?" Scorpius impatiently prompted. "You're the one with brains, Swanson! If _you_ don't know what to do, who will?"

The dragon opened his eyes and a strange noise rumbled in his throat, like a reproach.

\- "What?" snapped back Scorpius who was now sitting on the carpet as well. "I can't believe it... He's a lot more touchy in this form than in the other" he muttered, turning to the other side sulkily.

Terrence grinned again.

_In the end, the whole situation was rather comical._

\- "Well, I don't think we can handle this alone. We have to tell a teacher. We need help. _Al_ needs help – a grown-up who will understand what's happening."

On the painting, the man with hollow cheeks nodded approvingly.

_Professor Longbottom seemed to know something. At first, they could go to him ... And then someone were to ask Harry Potter _why_ his son had this kind of buried memory... perhaps James knew something..._

Malfoy frowned.

\- "I'm not sure, Swanson. It's ... a magical creature. It's complicated. A lot of people won't be pleased. Albus could be expelled from the school."

Terrence stared at him, confused.

\- "What? Why..."

The dragon suddenly sat up. He opened his mouth strangely, gasping as if he was trying to swallow something. His golden split green eyes widened, surprised and a little frightened and his wings puffed up.

\- "Did you feed him something?" immediately asked Terrence, rising up in alarm.

Scorpius frantically shook his head, getting up too. He stepped back.

\- "No, I was petrified, I told you! You ... d'you think he's going to ... Damn it, Swanson, it's a bloody _dragon_! If he sets the paintings on fire, it's going to be chaos!"

But the creature's maw did not kindle. He coughed, opened his jaws so big they saw his glottis swinging and crackling off blue sparks, then slouched down, looking pitiful.

\- "What's the matter with you, poor ol' fellow?" asked Terrence, a little worried, smoothing one of the black silk wings.

The big golden split green orbs looked up. The dragon put his paw on his muzzle, moaning softly.

Scorpius came closer.

\- "What's next?" he muttered.

His fingers were two inches away from Terrence's sweater. He found it hard not to grab it for reassurance.

The other boy pushed up his glasses on his nose. He was about to answer when the dragon began to _dissolve_ into thousands of glittering particles.

The boys raised their arms instinctively to protect themselves from this whirl of black sand.

Then Terrence risked a glance and fell to his knees.

\- "Al!"

He cradled the hand lying limp on the carpet. His heart did a loop and then hung back onto its place.

_Alive._

Scorpius crouched next to him, his bulging eyes staring at the teenager – unconscious and naked - who was now lying on the floor of the gallery.

\- "He's back", he stuttered.

Terrence quickly took off his sweater. He rolled it and put it under his friend's neck, looked around him.

\- "Malfoy, get me that tablecloth."

Scorpius moved his wand mechanically.

\- "It's there again", he croaked.

\- "I know", said Terrence as if it did not matter that the flower-shaped scar was again visible on the unconscious boy's chest.

He wrapped Albus' legs in the heavy damask fabric.

He needed to do something to avoid losing his mind. It was all far too complicated, far too weird, far too much for fourth grade students.

\- "Let's call Professor Longbottom", he finally said when he was done tucking the corners of the tablecloth under the cold and motionless body of Albus.

Malfoy was opening his mouth to protest again when he met the glare of the man with the black robes. The portrait was slowly shaking his head.

\- "Can you fetch Mrs Abbot?" Terrence asked, not looking at him. "I don't think it's a good idea to carry him in his state..."

He wiped his sweaty palms on his pants.

_Okay. Here, you've officially blown up the record of bizarreness, Al._

_A DRAGON? You couldn't be any less special, obviously. But what on Earth _are_ you? An animagus?_

His friend's face was so pale, like one of a ghost. Terrence's heart sank.

_Why? You didn't ask for any of this, I bet... Who did this to you? Who's your father, anyway? Why are we told nothing about him before our 7th year? Is there something really creepy about him?_

Malfoy, who had started to get up, grabbed his arm.

\- "Hey, he's waking up."

The two boys leaned over Albus who was blinking feebly.

\- "You okay?"

Their perfectly synchronized voices echoed in the gallery filled with the candles smoke.

Albus sat up with difficulty, helped by the other two. He ran a hand over his face, cast a puzzled glance around him. His eyes met Scorpius' and he smiled apologetically.

\- "Sorry", he breathed. "We were talking... What happened? Did I - _faint_?"

He stared at the windows onto which clung the night.

\- "Is it _evening_?"

Malfoy nodded silently. Terrence was scanning his friend's face.

\- "What do you remember, exactly?"

Albus did not answer right away: he had discovered how he was dressed and obviously it did not make him feel better at all.

\- "What happened?" he repeated in a trembling voice.

Scorpius bit his lip.

\- "You don't remember?"

His gray eyes were dilated under his white bangs.

Albus' face fell. He turned to Terrence, distraught.

\- "What did I do? Why am I naked?"

His friend's blue orbs locked with the emerald panicked eyes.

_No. Nothing golden. No trace of the dragon._

\- "You did nothing", he said finally. "Don't worry. It's a bit of a long and complicated story, but ... well, I'll explain about your clothes. Later on. But it's nothing serious, trust me. Do you think you can walk? We'll help you to the infirmary. Professor Longbottom looked ready to send an army of Valkyries after you, earlier."

Malfoy glared at him.

_" HOW CAN YOU HIDE _THIS_ FROM HIM?"_

Albus waved off the hand offered to help him up. He stood up on his own, swayed a bit on his feet.

\- "Where is my wand?" he asked curtly.

Scorpius handed it to him without saying anything.

Terrence swallowed hard.

\- "You're not going to hex me, are you? Because, just in case you didn't notice, I'm not armed."

Albus grunted something unintelligible that was probably not politically correct, then tapped on the tablecloth, using a spell that neither of the two other boys knew.

The damask fabric assembled itself in the form of pants and Albus breathed in deeply, a bit relieved.

\- "What was that?" Terrence asked, fascinated. "Where did you learn that one?"

\- "My grandmother used to make clothes for my sister's dolls when we were kids", shortly answered his friend.

\- "Can you teach m-"

\- "_Terrence_", cut in Albus firmly.

\- "Okay", sighed the blonde. He removed his glasses and wiped them on the corner of his shirt. "I'll tell you the truth, I promise, but not here - not now."

The supper bell rang, echoing in all Hogwarts with perfect timing.

\- "Go ahead, I'll make a stop by our bedroom to get a change of clothes", Albus said wearily.

Scorpius shook his head.

\- "No", he gritted. He shoved off Terrence who wanted to stop him. "You shouldn't be left alone. What if someone saw you morph again?"

Albus paled. Instinctively he sought the gaze of the portrait at the end of the gallery, as if to hold on to something normal.

\- "_Morph_?"

\- "Yes", Malfoy squealed. "In a dragon."

On the painting, the man's lips thinned. He pulled back a strand of dark greasy hair and rushed out of the frame, swinging his sleeves like bat wings.

In a daze, Albus watched him disappear. He was feeling like if he was drowning.

\- "In a _dragon_?" he croaked. "If this is a joke, it's not funny, Scorpius."

\- "This is far from being a joke", suddenly said a grim voice from the doorstep of the gallery, startling the three boys.

* * *

**_TO BE CONTINUED_**

* * *

Next chapter: **_The New Professor for Defense Against the Dark Arts  
_**


	9. The new DADA teacher

**THE NEW DADA TEACHER**

* * *

Wendy put down the newspaper and heaved a long sigh.

The Great Hall was almost empty at this hour. Most students had finished having breakfast and were already heading to their classrooms. The sun was streaming through the huge windows and gently warmed the old tiles and the tables studded with bread crumbs and drops of milk.

Someone cavalierly placed a cerulean porcelain cup filled with hot tea in front of Wendy and sat on the opposite bench.

\- "Hi", Lily said, dropping a muffin and a satin pouch next to the cup.

Her hair was pinned up with a yellow butterfly.

\- "Hello", Wendy answered, a little embarrassed, putting her elbows on the newspaper to hide the front page.

Lily casually waved her wand and made the sugar bowl come to her, not worrying the slightest about the big round eyes of the first year boy who was helping himself at that time.

\- "Any idea where my bro could be?" asked the young red-haired girl lightly, while breaking four pieces of sugar and sending them sliding along the handle of the spoon into her tea.

\- "No", Wendy replied, sincerely sorry. "I haven't seen him or Terrence since five PM yesterday. And Craig Finnigan says Scorpius also has disappeared ... It's weird."

\- "Um", Lily said.

And she bit into the blueberry muffin as if it did not really matter.

Wendy picked up her fork and pushed aside a small pile of beans. She played a bit with what remained of the sausage without motivation. The sun's rays were dancing like golden flies on the wooden table, passing through her orange juice.

\- "Yo", said another voice, and a plate packed with scones and buttered toasts was placed on her left.

James stepped over the bench to sit, his _Standard Book of Spells__ Level 6_ tucked under his left armpit and the jam saucer in his right hand.

\- "What are you doing here, JS: skipping class?" asked his sister, her mouth full.

The young man shrugged. He brought the pitcher of milk and a mug to him - narrowly avoiding the head of a Prefect who glared at him - and took the time to drink before answering.

\- "Trelawney's sick", he said finally, wiping his white foam mustache. "I don't really get why... _a great__ disturrrrbance in the threads of maaagic_ happened last night ... blablablah."

Wendy giggled.

\- "Anyway, I hadn't gotten any breakfast, so I took the opportunity", he added.

He spread an indecent layer of raspberry jelly on a toast, absently blowing on the brown bangs that fell over his eye. He had rolled up the sleeves of his sweater, the collar of his shirt was slightly open and his Gryffindor tie undone. The ever so slight stubble on the masculine lines of his jaw and his wide shoulders were explaining a lot why so many girls fancied him.

James Sirius Potter was sixteen and he was handsome, that was a fact.

He was also popular, athletic, smart – a mocker, arrogant, elitist.

He was not mean, but he could quickly get on your nerves. Wendy did not like him very much, and the feeling was mutual.

\- "Any idea where our bro might be?" he asked nonchalantly, shoveling down his bread.

\- "Not since yesterday", repeated Wendy.

If she had not been so worried herself, she would have found it very amusing.

_Both__ Potter siblings going fishing for info..._

_In the end,__ Albus matters more to them than they show it..._

Lily took a sip of tea then opened the pouch. She took out a small vial and unscrewed it.

James' eyebrows narrowed.

\- "What's that?" he asked with his mouth full.

\- "Muggle nail polish. Beth Drevor lent it to me", his sister replied, not looking up, busy painting in pistachio green her thumbnail. "I tried to bewitch it so it would apply on itself, but this brush's really daft."

There was a silence - during which James gobbled down two scones and the rest of his milk - then Lily blew on her nails and winced, discovering a notch her little finger.

\- "It'd be nice if Al reappeared quickly. I have a score to settle with him", she said under her breath. "Mom had a fight with Dad because of him."

\- "It's not because she cries _once_ that they are getting a divorce like Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione", groaned James who did not look quite so sure of it, though.

\- "Pff. You know nothing", retorted his sister.

Wendy nibbled her lips.

\- "Are you ... uh ... very close to your mother?"

Lily's eyes blazed.

\- "Yes. _Fortunately_. With James who only cares for his popularity, Albus who has no more existence than a spasmophilic clabbert and Dad who thinks only of his career, there's got to be somebody who cares for her!"

Wendy hurried to interrupt James before the discussion would gangrene.

\- "You're lucky", she said. "I don't really get along with my stepmother, so ... I think it's cool you're close."

James looked at her with curiously for a few seconds - while Lily mumbled something about Wendy who'd look better without her fringe pinned up - then he sighed.

\- "That smarty-pants bloke who hangs out with Al… You don't know where he is either?"

The girl shook her head.

\- "No, and that's exactly why I'm worried. If Albus was sick, he'd be in the infirmary and Terrence would take notes for him. But neither of them came to supper last night and Craig Finnigan said they didn't sleep in their room. And this morning, Professor Longbottom canceled all his classes..."

\- "Maybe the teachers just want to avoid Al wandering in the hallways until the rumors dissipate", James said. "I get that. I already had to shut off Thomas Anderson and his Slytherin mates who thought they could call my father a murderer."

Lily shrugged.

\- "Well, I'm sure Helen Jones is still trying to undo the knots in her hair, that wench... but frankly, we were doing fine on our own, I don't see why the teachers would consider it necessary to protect Al."

Wendy clenched her fists.

\- "You didn't see his face when the boggart was saying _Avada,_ _Avada_ ... _something_!" she protested. "Everyone was so shocked. Mr. Longbottom looked _so_ crossed with Curtis, and Albus threw up."

James and Lily at the decency to look a bit uneasy.

\- "Um", the brother said.

\- "What is it you were trying to hide in the newspaper?" asked the sister.

Wendy blushed.

She grabbed her long chestnut ponytail and smoothed the tips nervously.

\- "It's not that I wanted to hide anything, it's just ... if I were you, I wouldn't like people reading stuff about my family in the _Daily Prophet_."

James rolled his eyes and Lily took the newspaper.

\- "We're used to it", said the young man. "It's even worse since Dad started doing politics..."

He leaned over the table to read the same time as his sister, not noticing his sleeve was in the jam saucer. Lily's tea was getting cold. The elves were cleaning the breakfast leftovers, glancing at them from time to time.

Apart from them three, only remained a third year girl with her arm in a sling, who was slurping up her pancackes, and two seventh-grade boys who were playing chess hidden behind piles of books.

Newspaper pages creaked a little.

* * *

**_TWENTY_****_ YEARS LATER_**

**_THE SURVIVOR_****_ CASTS AN UNFORGIVABLE CURSE_**

**_ON_****_ HIS OWN SON_**

* * *

**_He is_****_ embarrassed, or should we say, afflicted._**

**_Harry Potter, the_****_ Boy Who Lived, winner of You-Know-Who and more than likely to be our next Minister of Magic, receives us in his comfortable office and offers us a very strong Chinese tea, "just like my wife likes to have hers, "he adds a little sadly. One must wonder indeed what Mrs. Potter thinks of the incident that happened during Defense Against the Dark Arts classes at Hogwarts. Albus Severus Potter, the second son of the hero, was training to face a Boggart. The child suddenly saw his own father standing in front of him with the obvious intent of murdering him._**

**_"_****_I never wanted to kill my son", counters the Secretary of the Minister with the same passion as when he was announcing the return of the Dark Lord. "Albus was in danger, I had to react quickly. He was six and doesn't remember well what I did. The curse was not directed at him but meant to stop what was attacking him at the time: a Graphorn!"_**

**_The assailant_****_ was a considerable challenge, yes, but our reporter wonders: Why launch an unforgivable curse, when you defeated Lord Voldemort with a simple _****Expelliarmus,****_ your signature?"_**

**_The Survivor_****_ gives us a painful and reproach look._**

**_"_****_It was ten years ago, as an Auror we were often facing ex-Death Eaters. I was terrified that my son would get hurt, that day. I hexed the first thing that came to my mind to protect him."_**

**_What a reflex_****_. Fortunately it was not a human being in the firing line..._**

**_"_****_The news coming from Islay are terribly disturbing. There is talk of an independence movement of the Hebrides, of violent riots led by Bercelak MacFusty and it may well be that the Aurors will be sent into battle to support the National Force. Will you be using the unforgivable curses against our enemies then?" asks our reporter._**

**_"_****_We are not at war; this is a simple misunderstanding that can be resolved in a reasonable way, through negotiations. And I would never use such spells against people or magical creatures!" the Secretary of the Minister protests indignantly._**

**_"_****_They say Kingsley Shacklebolt gave you - or to be more precise, perhaps: _****ordered_ you - to__ take a few months off before your application to be minister is again proposed. What are your plans for these impromptu holidays?"_**

**_Harry_****_ Potter does not want to tell us about his projects. Our reporter expresses the wish he will reconcile with his wife, Ginevra Weasley-Potter, who was seen in tears yesterday as she left the premises of the Ministry of Magic (see our interview with Mr. Fumetti, candied chestnuts street vendor, on page 4)._**

**_Our_****_ interview with the Survivor comes to an end. Reports are piling up on his desk and the director of the Department for the _****Control and Regulation of**** Magical Creatures_, Mrs Hermione Granger, knocks at the door with some more paperwork. We only have one last question before shaking the hand of the Secretary of the Minister._**

**_"You have two other children besides Albus Severus, who are currently schooled in Hogwarts. Do you think this scandal will affect their education?"_**

**_Harry Potter walks us off politely but firmly._**

**_"My children have no reason to worry. I have done nothing wrong and I think the wizarding community will agree. I wish my son Albus will be left in peace and that nothing will again stir up a memory that had been thankfully forgotten."_**

**_Words that are doubtlessly coming from a father's mouth. This will certainly reassure our readers who were concerned to see the government soon entrusted into the care of a man capable of casting an Unforgivable Curse onto his own flesh._**

**_But one question remains: how a child so young could be left unattended in the vicinity of such a dangerous creature? Family outings with the Potters decidedly seem worthy of a novel._**

**_Daphne Mordecrat,_**

**_Special Envoy for the 'Daily Prophet'_**

* * *

The newspaper was crumpled in Lily's hands when they were done reading.

\- "Bloody idiots", James muttered, sitting down again.

Wendy fiddled anxiously with the carbuncle on her left ear.

\- "Well, at least we know he didn't want to kill him", she tried.

Lily snorted.

\- "A _Graphorn_! That's all he could come up with ... rubbish. As if this kind of creatures lived near Ottery-St. Catchpole ! _Tch_. Mum didn't know, she'd have found a better idea."

Alarmed, Wendy sat up.

\- "What, do you mean it's not true? But your father, then..."

James slouched on the bench, his face darkening.

\- "Our father's been lying to us from the beginning. And I don't think he's the only one..."

* * *

oOoOoOo

* * *

Minerva McGonagall breathed in deeply, her hands joined in front of her mouth, then dignifiedly put her trembling fists in the pockets of her robe and lifted up her chin. Her high dark green wimple underlined her thin face. Her smooth white hair was pulled back in a neat bun.

\- "I'm too old for this", she whispered, tears welling up in her eyes.

Neville Longbottom hesitated then put his hand awkwardly on her shoulder. His robe hung on his collarbones like an old coat and his brown hair was a mess. He was a lot taller than the director of Hogwarts, but stood like a shy boy next to her.

Leaning against the wall, in the shadows, a man had his arms crossed and a foot pressed against the old stones. He was watching with an impassive gaze, but his bright eyes registered to the smallest detail.

\- "Shouldn't we cast a forgetting spell on the two boys?" Neville asked softly.

Mrs McGonagall's powdered cheeks quivered and the wrinkles on her forehead creased even deeper.

\- "I…"

\- "Here he comes", Hannah Abbot interrupted, walking in the scene.

She stepped aside, like the others, and let go of her long blue dress she had pleated up to climb the stairs.

Harry Potter stepped into the dimly lit room. The thin black beard he was growing since he had entered politics brought out his sallow complexion and the dark circles under his eyes. He was still wearing the suit he had on the picture of the _Daily Prophet_ front page. His shoes and the bottom of his pants were caked in mud.

\- "He apparated outside the castle and ran all the way to here", Hannah explained in a low voice. "I think he didn't understand we had opened the Floo network for him..."

Harry's face contorted and he brought a hand to his chapped lips. Neville moved closer to him.

\- "I'm sorry", he whispered.

Harry tried to swallow but only succeeded in half choking.

\- "It looks like... like _him_ ... the fourth or the fifth day ... he looked pretty much like that..."

The man in the dark corner of the room nodded.

\- "I ... uh ... all I could do was enchanting the bed, meanwhile", explained Neville in an unsteady voice. "Hannah gave the boys a potion to make them sleep so they haven't stirred since last night - except for _him_. He… _changes_ back and forth. It's quite random. Sometimes _he_ comes out for an hour, sometimes only five minutes and then nothing for three hours."

Harry hurt to the point he could barely breathe.

\- "It's not your fault, Harry", Neville stammered, throwing a distress glance in the direction of the man in the shadows, who made no move to help.

\- "You didn't know _this_ would happen", whispered Minerva McGonagall fervently. "I'm sure you would have made a different choice."

Harry turned to her and for a moment his face relaxed a little. He gave an affectionate look to the old lady - her old-fashioned sleeves, her back that time had hunched a bit, her pinched nose on which were perched glasses that looked a lot like Dumbledore's. She looked so much smaller, so much frailer than when he was a student at Hogwarts...

He smiled to the very clear blue eyes staring at him anxiously and gathered his courage.

\- "Thank you, Professor", he answered simply. "But if I had to do it all over again, I would take exactly the same decision."

He did not wipe the lone tear running down his cheek and turned again towards the dragon that was asleep, curled up on a large blackened stump, his muzzle tucked under his wing. There were beds on each side of the window of which curtains were drawn. In one slept Terrence, his glasses pushed up on his forehead, his mouth ajar, and in the other was Scorpius, frowning in his sleep, curled up in his rumpled uniform.

\- "The young Malfoy was the first to see him, isn't it?"

\- "Yes", Neville nodded. "Which was a good thing. The Boggart showed that Swanson was terrified of dragons."

There was pride in his voice as he continued.

\- "But he overcame his fear since then. Incredible ! He held Albus' hand the next time he metamorphosed, until it became a big hairy paw. Scorpius was very brave too. I just wish he hadn't rushed to tell Albus what happened to him before we had the time to prepare him for… well, that."

\- "I wasn't fast enough to stop him", grumbled the man in the dark corner.

His voice startled Harry who turned to him incredulously.

\- "W-when did you arrive?"

\- "Last night", the man said with a grin. He came to Harry and put his arm on his shoulders. "We'll have plenty of things to teach my nephew and I think I'm the best person for that kind of business!"

Albus' father smiled weakly.

\- "Thank you…"

He turned back to the dragon and closed his eyes for a moment.

_Do you hear me?__ You talked to me, a long time ago. I did what you asked of me ... now, explain. Why this? What do we have to do?_

There was no answer.

In the darkness, he could only hear the quiet snore of the sleeping dragon.

\- "I tried that too", muttered Charlie. "But it doesn't work. Maybe it's because this _is_ Albus. Or maybe the dragon's too young to communicate like he used to. We'll see in time..."

The stocky man friendly squeezed Harry's shoulder then turned to the others.

\- "First of all, we need to teach him to control the metamorphosis."

Like an echo to his words, a swarm of glittering sand swirled behind him and the teenager reappeared while sheets grew on the stump and it became a bed again.

\- "I'll never get used to it", croaked Minerva McGonagall, a diaphanous hand clutching her chest.

She cleared her throat and her eyebrows arched like in the old days, when she was teaching.

\- "Now. How do we proceed? Some classes were already canceled today, so I planned on giving the students the rest of day off. But school will have to resume to its routine if we do not want to attract more attention from the press. I will announce tomorrow morning your appointment to be the teacher of _Care of Magical Creatures_, Mr. Weasley, and yours to _Defense Against the Dark Arts_, Mr. Potter. With this, your presence in Hogwarts will be perfectly justified."

She paused. Then she added, almost shyly:

\- "Will a day be enough?"

Charlie Weasley ran a hand over his balding hairline, glancing at the three sleeping boys then he grinned.

\- "I think so."

He waited until the old lady and Hannah were gone to puff his cheeks and let his face fall to a much less confident look.

\- "That is, if Albus _is_ an Animagus. Because if he's not, we'll have to understand _how_ and _why_ he turns into a dragon. And traumatized as he is, I don't think it'll be easy for the poor lad. First of all…"

Harry cut him off.

\- "First, I think I need to have a good chat with him. There's a long story I have to tell him."

Neville nodded.

\- "What about the other two?"

\- "We'll wipe their memories", Charlie said firmly. "Not necessarily those of their friendship with Al, but at least those of the last two days."

* * *

_**TBC**_

* * *

_Next chapter_: **He just needed to be loved**


	10. He just needed to be loved

**HE JUST NEEDED TO BE LOVED**

* * *

Harry had kept them all.

They were stored in a tin box on his desk.

The_ 12__, Grimmauld Place_ had changed a lot since the time the _Order of the__ Phoenix _had been using it. There was still a murmur behind the thick curtain in the corridor, but the tapestries had been changed, the rooms cleansed, the furniture completely replaced. The third floor was used as a dormitory, the first floor had been converted into training space and Harry had set up there his second headquarters when he had been appointed Commander of the Aurors.

At the time, Ginny was pregnant with Lily. One day she was resting at her parents' while James was at his cousins', Harry had had no choice but to bring Albus with him.

He had settled the almost two years old little boy on the green carpet in his office, with his dragon plush toy and an enchanted spin top to keep him occupied, and had begun classifying his books and documents in the library.

Downstairs, the Aurors were busy chatting, carrying stuff and sorting out jumble. You could hear Ron's loud voice, the latest recruit's quips, guffawing, hammering and the _pshitt__-fizz_ sounds of spells. The whole house smelled of wood chips and paint and life and new starts. The sun streamed through the windows and Harry had trouble believing the place had seen so much pain and anger.

\- "Oh."

He had turned round when he had heard Kreacher's voice.

The old elf had stepped in the room with a box full of clutter and stumbled upon discovering the child.

\- "This is my son, Kreacher", had said Harry gently, from the ladder on which he was standing with a stack of books. "His name's Albus."

There had been a long silence, during which the grumpy servant had stared at the little boy, rubbing his scraggly chin with a long bony hand.

Then Albus had lifted his green eyes, looked at the creature and smiled under his mop of dark curls.

\- "Peek-a-boo!"

The protruding eyes had widened a bit under the bushy eyebrows.

\- "The master's son?"

\- "Yes", had said Harry.

He had not specified that the toddler was his _second_ son, because he had never felt it necessary to tell the elf about James. _Why would have Kreacher been interested in knowing this?_ He was living peacefully in a world filled with ghosts, worshiping the memory of Regulus Black.

Of course, the _12, Grimmauld Place_ was soon going to be as busy as a beehive. But Kreacher would surely be content to hide in the attic or the cellar. He would probably appear from time to time to accommodate Harry, but you could not expect him to become _sociable_. He was far too old – and far too senile - for that.

\- "Kitty!" Albus chirped, pointing at the servant.

Harry chuckled.

\- "Not really."

Kreacher glared at his master. He put down the box on the floor and hobbled to the child, scraping the tip of one of his jagged ears filled with tufts of white hair.

\- "Man-key!"

\- "Nope."

Harry was carefully watching the elf.

_There was__ no reason for him to harm the baby, but..._

Albus cocked his head to the side, wrinkling up his tiny nose.

\- "Api?"

\- "No, it's not a bat either. This is Kreacher, Al. Say hello."

The toddler flashed a bright smile to the creature and stretched his arms out.

\- "Lo!" he cried and adorable giggles blossomed in the room.

The old elf pinched his crooked nose, closing his eyes. Then he took another step and, very gently, put his slender fingers on the little boy's head.

His almost transparent blue irises half-opened and something that looked like a smile dawned on his parched lips.

\- "The young little master", he mumbled.

\- "Api", repeated Albus, looking totally convinced. Then he reached out and grabbed one of the floppy ears.

The pinkish gray old creature bent down. His scrawny arms wrapped around the toddler and his gummy cheek touched the baby's pristine forehead.

\- "Kreacher's glad", he muttered. "He saw the young little master..."

Harry felt his heart sink.

_How many years of__ solitude? How many regrets? How many memories lost forever? The old elf had seen his masters' births. Had he held in his arms the child named Regulus? Had he rocked him to sleep like he had done, many years later, in a so very cold cave?_

Albus snuggled against the elf's hollow chest, without fear, without disgust, without a second thought.

\- "Kiss", he informed before sticking a wet smacker on the crooked nose of the old servant.

And his laughter tinkled again like a fairy silver bell.

Harry cleared his throat.

\- "Kreacher, I'll be very busy today. Could you keep an eye on him, please?"

The elf grumbled something, but the soft look didn't leave his wizened features. For the rest of the afternoon, he wandered about the house, bringing tea and cookies to the workers, not paying any attention to what they said. He was walking slowly, one eye always watching the little boy toddling behind him – who marveled at everything, his chubby fist clutched on the elf's ragged tunic.

\- "Kitty!"

\- "Oh, no, my young master. It's a troll's head."

When Harry had noticed it was getting dark and that it was almost time to go home, he had searched them everywhere. The Aurors had not seen the duo for a while and there were so many dangerous places for a baby in the old building.

He had finally found them in the kitchen, behind the stove. The embers were softly crackling in the warm and quiet room. Kreacher was sitting on the pile of rags that were his bed with a book which pages were a bit moldy. The little boy was nestled in his arms. The dragon plush huddled under his chin, the child was fast asleep with his thumb in his mouth, his long dark lashes fluttering on his round cheeks with each peaceful breath.

The old elf was silent, but his skinny fingers brushed the toddler's black curls with awed tenderness.

Harry had crouched in front of the servant.

\- "It's time we go home", he had said gently.

The elf's protruding eyes, somewhat hidden under almost white bushy eyebrows, had looked at him.

\- "The young little master played a lot", he had croaked.

\- "Yes", had replied Harry, holding out his hands slowly. "It's time for him to go to bed. His _own_ bed."

He had wondered if the old creature would give back the child without an actual order.

\- "Um", had grumbled the house elf.

And he had very carefully lifted Albus to put him into his father's arms.

Harry had gotten up with his precious cargo, while the sleeping toddler instinctively nuzzled against his shoulder.

\- "Thank you, Kreacher."

\- "Hum."

He had waited to be in the corridor to apparate, feeling the gaze of the elf on them like if the creature could not take his eyes off the little boy.

He had never brought back his son at _Grimmauld Place_ because it was a place he had decided long ago to keep away from his family. There were too many memories in this house. Ginny did not want to set foot there again, and for him, he rather not to have to explain to James, Lily and Albus to whom it had belonged, nor why some rooms remained stubbornly linked to the days of the war, to the Black family, to a world that was no longer relevant.

Kreacher did not ask when the child would come back, but from time to time, he looked at Harry and moistened his thin lips, as if he were about to say something.

Time had gone by.

Now the green of the carpet in his office had faded and the books were worn out. But his desk was still spotless, polished and waxed, with the lamp on the left and the inkwell on the right, gold-tipped quills waiting with some parchment in the center and a stack of documents to sign in the black bunk.

And then the box.

It was made of tin and had contained macaroons offered by Arthur Weasley to Ginny and him for their first Christmas with the family a few weeks after their wedding. Harry had kept it because it was a gift bought in a Muggle bakery and because the story of its shopping had made them roar with laughter for years.

He had found it again when tidying his study after Lily's birth and brought it to _Grimmauld Place_, thinking he would use it to keep his Aurors' greeting cards.

He could not remember exactly how or why, but in the end the box was only filled with letters from Albus.

* * *

**_APYBIRTHDADADDY_**

**_ILOVYOO_**

**_ALBUSSEVERUSPOTTER_**

* * *

**_Deare Daddy,_**

**_Grannie said you where in the hospitall becoz a bad wisard hurted you. I hop you are bettter now. Mummy is very upset. James is mean to me but I dont say anything just like you tolde me. I miss you a looooooooooooooooooot. See you soon._**

**_Al._**

* * *

**_Hello Daddy,_**

**_We're having an awesomme time at_****_ the sea with Uncle Bill! Auntie Fleur says hello and sends Mummy the dried flowers I put in the envellope (I hope they won't be too crushed). We saw the nest of a jobberknoll and tomorow we will go CAMPING on the beach! Teddy put sand in James's bathing suit; he was squirming and squeeling, it was so funny! Lily's learning to swim, she's doing fine._**

**_Lots of love,_**

**_Al._**

* * *

**_FOR THE BEST DAD IN THE WORLD: HIP HIP HIP HOORAY_**

**_HAPPY 35st BIRTHDAY!_**

**_A massive hug from your son_**

**_Albus_**

**_(See, I didn't do a single mistake and Mum didn't even help!)_**

* * *

**_Dear Dad,_**

**_I'M IN GRYFFINDOR! The Sorting Hat didn't take long to think about it. He laughed and said "another Potter". Rosie's in Ravenclaw and the boy Uncle Ron doesn't like, Scorpius Malfoy, is also in Gryffindor and we share bedrooms too. But he's not someone bad, he's just a little shy, I reckon. There's also a boy named Terrence Swanson and another who's called Craig Finnigan and who said his father knew you because you two were in school together. He's Irish. I saw the Whomping Willow! In _****Potions_, I didn't get the cure for boils wrong, though I wasn't as good as Terrence who's completely barmy (he has already tried a recipe from our Prefect's _Advanced Potion-Making_ book!) Tomorrow we're having our first flying lesson! I can't wait!_**

**_Give a kiss for me to Lily and a ton of hugs to Mum._**

**_Love you,_**

**_Al._**

**_(PS: I said hello to Neville.)_**

* * *

**_Hi Dad,_**

**_Thanks for the tip about the flowers. I brought lilies to the gallery and I think Severus liked them. It's too bad he doesn't speak... Rosie told me none of the portraits could, since they were made from pictures of the victims of Hogwarts' Battle. I wish I could ask them some questions, especially to Tonks and Remus. (Is it wrong of me? They just look so brave and so interesting!) Apparently there's another painting of Professor Snape somewhere, one that can actually talk, but I couldn't find out where exactly._**

**_Scorpius sat with us at lunch yesterday. He even smiled when Samuel Flinch-Fletchey's ears began to smoke yellow! It's cool, usually he looks upset or lonely... Wendy said he just needed to be loved, that's all. I find it sad that he had to wait to be in second year to find out we were willing to be friends with him._**

**_Has Lily received the Droobles I sent her?_**

**_Lots of love to you and Mum_**

**_Al._**

**_(PS: James's busy practicing for Quidditch, but he said to tell you he's still alive.)_**

* * *

**_Dear Dad,_**

**_Spoon_****_ is dead. We found him this morning in the canopy above my bed. I think he died while he was sleeping. It probably didn't hurt... I hope it didn't._**

**_Wendy_****_, Terrence Scorpius, Rosie, Hugo, Lily and I are going to bury him near Hagrid's hut. Bert Hammersmith asked Professor Migden if we could. James made fun of us, I wanted to hit him. Spoon was becoming the Gryffindor third years' mascot, you know. He was even allowed to be in class with us in _Study of Ancient Runes_. Professor Douglas liked him, he always said he had rarely seen such a smart ferret. Maybe he will come with us this afternoon..._**

**_I miss you, Daddy._**

**_Albus_**

* * *

**_HAPPY BIRTHDAY_****_ DAD!_**

**_Turning 40,_****_ wow, now, this is neat (I won't tell you it's time to retire like James, but you should start to worry about white hair. Lily spot one behind your ear. =)_**

**_Your_****_ birthday gift is downstairs in the kitchen, I hope you'll like it. Mum, Teddy and I spent a whole afternoon in _****Diagon Alley****_ to find everything we needed and Grandpa almost ruined everything yesterday evening! I was going nuts - but phew, it worked out well in the end._**

**_Sorry for the_****_ biting birthday card by the way. Uncle George said there were no nice birthday cards for people over 39 years!_**

**_A ton of_****_ kisses,_**

**_Long live the - next - minister of magic!_**

**_Your son, Albus_****_ Severus Potter._**

* * *

Sometimes Harry opened the box and time flew at full speed while he was reading. As a child, Lily had given him many drawings and Ginny treasured the rare postcards and memo sized notes received from James, but Albus was the only one who had written that many letters - like a diary of his son's life, a child's heart given to the paper with innocence, a moment of quiet conversation which would remain forever.

The hours passed by, the sun moved on the dark green carpet, hemming the bookshelves with gold and glittering on the ornaments behind the glass and, suddenly, Harry shivered as he came back to reality, just like when he plunged his head into the _Pensieve_.

In his painting, Severus only raised his eyebrows silently, but Harry suspected him of going off the frame to laugh secretly. His former teacher remained true to himself - pale, uptight, severe, and disdainful - but the young man was not deceived.

Severus Snape loved Albus' visits to the gallery. He had ears everywhere - in the unexpected person of Dobby who wandered from his own painting in _Grimmauld_ to the one hung in Hogwarts' kitchen and who picked up the latest gossip. Sometimes the two portraits suddenly fell silent when Harry came in the room. Dobby's bright eyes and the hue of color on the Potions Master's hollow cheeks poorly concealed their excitement.

\- "What's new?" Harry asked casually while sitting at his desk with a stack of files.

\- "Potter, you're barely making your deadlines. Don't you think you should avoid any possibility of distraction? In the old days..."

\- "Yeah, yeah, I know. What's up with Albus?"

Dobby's high pitched voice made them both wince with some amusement.

\- "Oh, Mr. Potter, there ain't two like him! He has…"

Sometimes, in the glass reflection, Harry saw the door open slowly, and he glimpsed Kreacher's humpbacked figure in the shadows of the corridor.

One morning, very early, he had surprised the servant in his office. The old elf was standing near the window and had left his dust cloth on the sparkling clean wooden desk.

In the sunlight that haloed him, his floppy jagged ears were flushed pink. His eyes were shut and he was cradling the tin box against his cheek.

\- "The young little master is happy over there ... He's growing up well. He's growing up strong."

Harry had felt ashamed, even if he had stayed firm on his decision to separate home from the _12,__ Square Grimmauld_. Albus did not remember his visit to the headquarters, and it was a good thing, although...

_Did elves have__ families? Had Kreacher ever been married? Would he have wanted children?_

Harry regretted not having paid more attention to what Hermione had been ranting about, when she had been into the S.A.L.E.

He remembered how Kreacher had changed when he had understood they were going to finish what Regulus Black had tried to accomplish.

Albus was different from him.

Following his heart, he saw beyond what people showed.

Harry had stopped at appearances, like everybody else.

Grumpy, lonely, shifty, misunderstood, despised and rejected.

_Severus._

_Kreacher__._

_Scorpius__._

How painful it was to remember the memory of Professor Snape slumped in the nursery, holding tight in his arms the lifeless body of Lily Evans, tears streaming down his sallow face...

_-"__After all this time, Severus?"_

_\- "Always."_

He was seventeen years old and he was staring, petrified, at Kreacher who was sobbing, his crooked nose dripping, pitiful, limp like a mop on the black and blue tiles of the kitchen.

_"__Mr. Regulus told Kreacher to go home..."_

At Hogwarts, Scorpius Malfoy walked hugging the walls, a bragging grin plastered on his narrow face. He carried the weight of his father's past on his shoulders, the shame of not being admitted to Slytherin and the painful desire to be accepted for what he was - _just him_.

He lived in overwhelming gloom.

Then Albus had smiled to him and sat with him in the _Potions _classroom.

_Just like that, just that simple__._

So he had started to hope.

_Just like__ Severus when Lily had come to him._

He had found his place.

_Just like__ Kreacher when Regulus Black had given him a mission._

He was not asking for much.

He just needed to be loved.

* * *

oOoOoOo

* * *

Harry opened his eyes and looked at Charlie.

\- "No", he said. "We won't wipe a single memory of what they shared."

You did not take away light from those who were born in darkness.

And Albus was going to need, more than ever, the love of those who had only found their place at his side.

* * *

**_TBC_**

* * *

Next chapter: **_What happened on the mountain_**


	11. What happened on the mountain

**WHAT HAPPENED ON THE MOUNTAIN**

* * *

Harry had thought for a long time that his scrawny constitution was due to the years of malnutrition at _Privet Drive_. Even though he had Harry's messy hair, James had grown into a fine teenager, with the Weasley's wide shoulders and their skin glowing of good health.

But Albus, who had been just as pampered, had been a fragile child. At fifteen, with his lean body and his thin features, he looked more than ever like his father at the same age and Harry, for the first time in his life, wondered _how_ Dumbledore had dared to place the weight of the world's salvation on shoulders this frail.

Molly had been right to want to keep him away from the _Order of the Phoenix_. Harry felt sick just picturing Albus prey to the nightmares he had had to deal with after the horrible night at the cemetery, or teaching his classmates in secret to protect them from a so-called educator, or witnessing the death of the person who was his only family in the _Department of Mysteries_...

It was just unacceptable. _Unbearable_.

Even if at the time he had ardently wished to be involved in the _Order of the__ Phoenix_ and to fight, even though he was pretty sure his son would have shown the same courage facing the same circumstances, he would do _anything_ for his children to grow up without suffering.

\- "Dad?"

He pushed off the anger twisting his stomach and his gaze came back to his son who was sitting up painfully on the enchanted bed, rubbing his eyes like when he was younger.

Harry felt his heart melt with love. He reached out and tousled the tangled dark curls.

\- "How d'you feel, Al?"

\- "Mmm... stiff. Like if I had been grinded like a scarab beetle..."

The boy glanced around in confusion. He recognized the room where Charlie had brought them the day before, but the other two beds were empty. The curtains were tied to the sides of the window and the sun was streaming in and warming up the old stone walls. A light breeze carried in the smell of freshly-cut grass and cherry trees in blossom, the distant voices of students strolling by the lake.

\- "Where are Terrence and Scorpius? It is morning? Did I oversleep? I'm going to be late for class! Why aren't they here? Did something happen to them? Did I ... did I ... k-k ..."

His breathing had quickened. A typhoon of panic was rising in his emerald eyes.

_Did I morph? Did I hurt anyone? I'm a monster, isn't it? That's why you tried to kill me, right?_

Harry grabbed his son's slender shoulders and locked eyes with him.

\- "They're fine, Al", he said firmly. "Everything's okay. _Breathe_. You don't need to go to school today; Minerva has given everyone the day off. Neville took your friends to breakfast. Now. I want you to listen to me carefully. Okay? "

Albus swallowed hard. He nodded weakly.

His heart was pounding in his chest.

_He__ was not afraid. This man was his father. He loved him. His father would have never hurt him. His father knew what was happening. His father never lied. Things were going to be okay._

Harry took off his shoes and climbed on the bed to lean back against the stone wall. He put his arm around the boy's shoulders, holding his breath for a minute, and gratitude overwhelmed him when he felt his son snuggle against him, like he used to when he was a child.

\- "There's something I need to tell you. When you were six, you had a terrible illness and the healers told us that... you were not going to recover."

His son frowned.

\- "I don't remember being sick."

\- "I know", said Harry. "That's what _he_ said would happen. That's why we never told you, Mum and I. We thought you'd never have to remember."

There was a silence, during which Harry remembered the little boy who was dying, his feverish green orbs looking at Ginny and him, his bright smile slowly dimming away.

Years later, the anguish and helplessness he had felt during those moments were still a lot more painful than the burning of his scar when facing Voldemort.

\- "_He_ came to us at that time. Out of nowhere. A black dragon, covered in fur instead of scales. At first it was just a cub, you were playing together in the snow when you still well enough, and then he grew up. He became huge and, the bigger he got, the more you lost your strength. Mum thought it was him that was weakening you."

Albus was listening intently.

\- "What about you?" he muttered. "What did _you_ think of it?"

Harry smiled and tightened his arm around the boy's shoulders.

\- "I thought you two were having a great time. I couldn't believe he would hurt you on purpose. And then your Uncle Charlie said the dragon had come to us _specifically_ to save you."

His throat was clogged. _What__ came next was so difficult to explain…_

\- "When things became dire... Charlie, Neville and I followed the dragon's instructions."

\- "It was_ talking_?"

Albus' green eyes were twinkling.

_How much did he look like__ the little boy who had begged them to keep the clumsy black dragon!_

Harry took a deep breath.

\- "He wasn't speaking aloud, rather... like words in your head. And not everyone could hear them. Charlie was the one who understood him best. As for me... he talked to me more at the end."

He felt his son's body stiffen.

\- "At the _end_?"

Harry shifted a bit and tilted his head to look at the anxious young face.

\- "The dragon... the dragon took us to the top of a mountain, the only place where Neville could find a very rare flower that would allow you to channel the ancient magic we were going to invoke."

He was trying to speak softly, reassuringly.

\- "The dragon and Charlie knew what they were doing. It was the only solution if we wanted to save you. When the time came, the dragon..."

He swallowed hard.

He thought of Dumbledore's blue eyes behind his half-moon spectacles when, at the end of his first year in Hogwarts, the old man had told him how his mother's love protected him from the Dark Lord.

\- "The dragon died to save you, Albus. I... Charlie had explained that you needed to… to die, so you could be reborn (_bloody hell__, how complicated and twisted it sounded, years after..._) and so when I... when I _killed_ you ... the dragon did something, and..."

The emerald eyes staring at him were clouding. The boy's face was very pale. Harry wiped the silent tear rolling down his son's cheek like a drop of ice.

\- "It's thanks to him that you're still alive. He loved you very much. So... well, I don't know why, _now_, these things are happening, but... I'm sure the dragon means you no harm."

He brushed away a dark lock on his son's forehead.

\- "I'm sorry I kept this a secret for years", he whispered. "Mum didn't know the whole story either, that's why she's so crossed with me. We had nothing to lose at this point, that's how I... I managed to cast that terrible curse. You were going to die anyway, so if it could save you... "

Albus shook his head slowly, as if lost in a dream.

\- "I understand", he rasped.

He looked about to faint.

\- "I _promise_ we will find a solution, Al. You're not alone, don't be scared..."

Harry pulled the teenager close, nestled him in his arms like when he was a toddler. Albus did not struggle, in a daze.

_"I'm here__. Daddy won't let you down, love. You don't need to face the world on your own. I'm protecting you. I will protect you forever."_

This lack of reaction was terrifying.

It was almost a relief when sobs wrenched the lean back of the boy and when garbled words choked against his father's shoulder.

Until Harry, aghast, understood what he was gasping.

\- "I'm sorry, Daddy... I'm so sorry ..."

But before he could protest, Albus' body dissolved into a whirl of golden particles and Harry had to close his eyes, dazzled.

When he was able to see again, the young black dragon was in front of him.

\- "Too ... Toothless?"

He ran a hand over his face, gathered his jumbled thoughts.

\- "Al?"

The dragon cocked his head and his fluffy ears flickered. His golden split green orbs were watching the man with interest. His spade-shaped tail swept the slabs happily.

Harry's hand touched the satin soft raven muzzle.

_"Al__?"_

The dragon started to purr, half-closing his eyelids.

_"Dad?"_

Harry's heart jumped.

_"Can you hear me?"_

There was no answer. The dragon sneezed suddenly and sat down with a flump. He turned his head to the window, intrigued, listening to the voices outside. His wings unfurled a little.

\- "No", said Harry. "You can't go out."

The animal growled and his muscles rolled under his ebony fur, as if he was preparing to pounce. He sniffed the breeze and Terrence's bed, trotted to the closed door and scratched it with his paw.

\- "No", Harry repeated, amused despite the situation.

He ruffled his tangled dark hair and sighed.

\- "What are we going to do with you?"

As if to answer him, the door opened and the dragon, surprised, leapt back, swelling like an angry cat.

Charlie popped his head inside and his serious face gave way to a grin when he saw the creature.

\- "Ah", he exclaimed, coming in. "You're done chatting, I see."

Harry winced.

\- "Not really. I had just managed to tell him the whole story, when suddenly..."

His brother-in-law nodded knowingly. He ran his hand over his forehead absently and Harry found himself wondering that this was perhaps why he was balding.

\- "When suddenly Al was overwhelmed by tons of complicated feelings – and _bam_", Charlie completed.

He crossed his arms - they were bare and covered with scars. He was wearing a sheepskin vest of questionable taste, which accentuated the Viking look of his stocky figure.

\- "It's alright. He'll be back in no time."

\- "I just hope you know what you're talking about", Harry groaned, recovering his balance: the dragon had shoved him to play and he had been nearly thrown down.

Charlie crouched, resting his elbows on his thighs, holding out his hands. He whistled a few notes, almost distractedly.

The dragon turned to him instantly, ears pointing up.

\- "Come on, boy."

He waited until the animal came to sniff his fingers and grinned at his brother-in law, scratching the silky throat of the dragon that closed his eyes with pleasure, purring like an old diesel engine.

\- "I checked. He's no Animagus, Harry. His friend Terrence told me he had no recollection of the times he morphs. And according to young Malfoy, the first time he changed into a dragon, it was in the gallery, after a serious discussion about the war. T'was a pretty good idea not to wipe their memories. Swanson, he's one heck of a clever lad, that one."

He grabbed the furry jaws of the creature that struggled a bit but did not manage to free itself, and showed Harry the white mark on the dragon's maw.

\- "Look. The _other_ did not have this. This is the scar left by the snow flower. From what the boys said and the observations we made last night, I think Albus and the dragon are _both_ in _him_. But for now, they appear taking turns. The dragon-phoenix gave him a part of himself when he poured in him his magic and it'll..."

A drop of cold sweat trickled down Harry's back.

\- "A _part of himself_?" he choked. "I turned my son into a _Horcrux_?"

Charlie shook his head hastily and the creature freed itself. He glared at the dragon master and retired to a corner of the room where he proceeded to lick his paw and thoroughly wash.

\- "No", the red-haired man protested. "_Not at all_! Well ... well it _looks_ like that and could be _explained_ like this too, but..."

Harry's face was ghastly.

\- "Don't worry", Charlie assured. "I'll keep studying them in any case, and believe me, all legends about the dragon-phoenix agree on one point: it never harms children. Albus is safe."

He came to his brother-in-law and placed a hand on his shoulder.

\- "As long as he can control his emotions, he will have no trouble staying in his human form. He's no lycanthrope; he won't be subjected to external circumstances like the bloody moon or whatever. And when he's stronger - better trained - he will even be able to be conscious when he's in the dragon's form. Harry. That's... what Albus is, it's something amazing! Every dragon master would love to..."

He was cut by Harry's livid stare.

\- "Albus is _not_ a dragon!" hissed his brother-in-law. "He _is_ a child who has the right to go to school and to be like everyone else! He..."

There was a whirl of gold behind them, then they heard Albus' panting voice.

\- "Why am I naked_ again_?"

Charlie grabbed a sheet on the bed and chucked it to his nephew who was swaying a bit on his legs.

\- "Welcome back", he said in a thunderous and cheerful voice. "Put that on, don't bother getting dressed. We've got work to do."

The boy's eyes turned to his father, distraught.

\- "Did I... I ... change?"

Harry nodded slowly.

\- "Yes. But Charlie has an idea to prevent this happening to you without warning."

Albus bit his lip, the sheet draped on him like a bath towel.

\- "Was I... Toothless?"

The two men glanced at each other.

\- "Do you remember Toothless?" Charlie asked eagerly.

Albus closed his eyes, then opened them again.

\- "No", he said simply. "But when I ... I was – asleep, I think ... someone called me that. Is it the name of the dragon?"

His green eyes were waiting for the answer without blinking, but his fingers were fidgeting with a fold of the sheet. Harry felt his heart swell with pride at this courage.

\- "I don't know if it was his name, but anyway, _you_ called him like that", he said, coming to his son.

He took off his jacket.

\- "You'll be okay, Al. Don't worry", he repeated firmly, adjusting the too broad jacket on the teenager's shoulders.

Charlie grinned.

\- "Oh, _yes_, you _will_ be fine! You were _sleeping_? Tell me about it. Not really, lad. It means you and the dragon are already becoming one. This is…"

\- "I don't want to become _him_!" Albus cried. "I already feel like I... what if I had never been myself from the beginning, from that day he gave me his heart..."

His face was contorted in a desperate plea.

_"What if I didn't exist, in fact?_

_What if I really died on the mountain?_

_What if I was someone else? _Something_ else?_

_Am I going to disappear?_

_Daddy, Mummy, will you still love me even though I'm not what you thought I was?_

_Will James and Lily forsake me? What about Terrence and Scorpius and the others?_

_Do I have the right to be here?_

_I'm a monster, isn't it?"_

Harry hugged him almost violently.

\- "Nothing will change!" he swore hoarsely.

_"I love you. I love you. I love you."_

How he wanted his words to be strong enough to stem the ancient magic which consumed Albus and was crackling at the roots of his hair...

_"I'm here. I won't let go of you, no matter what happens._

_You're not the dragon and the dragon will never take your place._

_I'll stop him. I'll protect you._

_You're not what I was, history will not be repeated, you won't live like that..."_

The whirl of gold vanished.

Harry opened his eyes and looked at his arms. The teenager shuddering against him and the snuffles moistening his shirt were real.

There had been no metamorphosis.

He looked at Charlie. His brother-in-law's gaze was strange.

\- "What?" Harry asked, breaking away from his son and checking him thoroughly.

_No, more magic._

_He was himself again._

_Pale and exhausted, but his true self._

The dragon had been quelled.

\- "His _heart_?" Charlie repeated softly. "_Who_ said he gave you his heart? How do you know that, Al?"

The boy shook his head.

\- "It's not that I know. I just _felt_ it", he muttered after a while.

His green eyes were filled with a tumult of questions without answers, lost in something like a trance.

_"__Are you there all the time?_

_What do you want from me?_

_Can you hear me__, dragon?"_

Harry cleared his throat. He did not like that empty look.

_Oh__, he hated it._

His stomach churned at the idea of his son living with in him the same horror he had discovered at the end of the fighting, the disgusting parasite that had corroded and impregnated him, hidden in the depths of his inner self, the abomination seed left by a curse that no one should have ever cast...

_Not__ Albus._

_Not him__, not that, never._

He stepped forward.

\- "He did not change into a dragon, this time", he said with a loud satisfaction.

_It would not be the same._

_There would be no sacrifice, no voice in Albus' head, no feelings that did not belong to him_ _hatching in his mind._

_He would not be doomed to kill anyone._

Harry was rather proud to have countered the magic of the dragon with his silent prayers. Perhaps he had reached - well, almost reached - the level of the old wizard who had walked with him in the surreal station...

_He was going to find a solution to rid his son of this stigma and things would turn out differently this time._

_Albus would never have to fight, _he_ would do it for him._

Charlie smiled up to his ears and scratched the back of his neck.

\- "Al is one of a kind", he chuckled enigmatically. "I'm going to love working with him."

\- "Working?" Albus repeated, with a start as if he had just woken up.

\- "Yep. Work, as in practice until you drop dead on the ground. From today onwards, my dear nephew, you're taking night classes in addition to your daily lessons..."

\- "I'm going back to school?" cut in the boy, stunned.

\- "Yes", Charlie laughed. "Tomorrow. As long as you can prove me you can consciously repeat what you've just done."

Albus nibbled his lips, still wrapped in his sheet. His feet were a little cold.

\- "You can do it, Al", said Harry who was not too sure he understood what his brother-in-law meant.

He could not quite get a hold of what he had missed.

But Charlie could already see the change. The most shy and the most fragile of his nephews was already standing with a different poise and the sparkle in his green eyes was stronger, firmer - wiser.

_"You can do it, Albus Severus Potter._

_I'll be waiting for you."_

The deep voice had been almost imperceptible, but it was warm, soft and filled with humor.

He had felt it within him at that turning point, when he was about to lose himself and morph. Like a distant echo, something familiar.

_"__Don't be afraid, little one._

_I'm going__ back to sleep for now._

_Take your time__."_

Albus decided not to say anything and just nodded when Charlie gave him a shove and asked enthusiastically: "you ready?".

He smiled at his father who looked worried and uncomfortable.

_"We will be fine__, Dad._

_Trust me."_

Everything was different since he had heard the voice of the dragon.

* * *

**_TBC_**

* * *

_Next chapter_: **Wendy** **does** **not like** **eels either**


	12. Wendy doesn't like eels either

** WENDY DOESN'T LIKE EELS EITHER  
**

* * *

The Great Hall was far from being silent, but it had never been so quiet during lunchtime. Students were whispering in between two mouthfuls, casting furtive glances towards the staff table.

Charlie Weasley was eating with gusto, not in the slightest embarrassed by the attention. He had already shoveled down three pumpkin pies and half a chicken, and was now helping himself with large ladles of green peas.

\- "Do you think he's part gorilla?" Violet Morgensten whispered, impressed. "He's got hair on his arms and did you _see_ the shape of his jaw?"

\- "Shush. Don't say stuff like that, silly!" Miranda Brown protested with a nervous glance at Rose Weasley who was glaring at them from the Ravenclaw table. "He's her family, she's going to kill us..."

Terrence smirked.

\- "He's Albus' uncle _too, _so that you know", he mentioned casually.

Both girls had the same reaction: they instantly turned to Lily who grimaced at their frightened faces.

It was common knowledge that it was better to avoid antagonizing the two redheads.

\- "Al, your father… what kind of a teacher is he?" Fabius Macmillan asked, reaching for the sliced roast dish.

\- "I don't know, I've never been in class with him", Albus replied very seriously.

\- "Who's got him first, this afternoon?" asked Craig Finnigan who had dug a volcano in his potato puree and was now filling it with gravy.

\- "It's the Hufflepuff seventh years."

\- "Cool…"

The man with messy black hair attracted even more attention than the new professor of _Care of Magical Creatures_, but the comments about him were rather mixed. Now that they saw him close, the hero looked rather insignificant - his dark stubble thinned his face, his sharp features were drawn with fatigue, his shoulders a bit hunched, the embarrassed smile which made the readers of _Witch Weekly_ weak in the knees didn't seem that charming in real life, and the way he kept pushing up his myopic round glasses was really not helping with the feeling. Overall, the boys thought James had a lot more class than his father. But the girls thought differently.

\- "Can you imagine how lucky these gals were to be in school with him..." sighed Eleanor Bones, cocking her head to the side with an ecstatic face.

\- "Looks like he didn't have a wink of sleep last night... d'you think he's managing the affairs of the ministry from afar? Wow… they really can't do a thing without him", said Jane Caradoc dreamily. Her empty spoon had been suspended in the air for two full minutes now.

\- "He's just as sexy as on the posters!" Alison Corner simpered, looking like a smitten goat.

\- "Ooh, those green eyes... they're even more alluring than Albus'…" swooned Sandie Morgensten who put her hands on her mouth, when she got a triple glower clearly meaning she would have done better keeping quiet.

\- "Won't you shut up?" Wendy groaned, biting into her sponge cake with the same ferocity she showed in the Quidditch pitch.

_Give Albus a break, he only left the infirmary an hour ago._

At the end of the table, James made a show of telling his friends about the trip he had done the summer before with Harry and Teddy Lupin, his father's godson, in the Caucasus.

Scorpius had received a letter and was reading it grimly, in front of his growing cold plate. He had not said a word during the entire _Study of Ancient Runes_ class and had never been so assiduous to take notes in _History of Magic_.

Hogwarts giant clock rang 1 PM and a flock of croaking crows flew off behind the Astronomy Tower. The elves began to clean the empty tables.

Lily's group of friends, who had finished eating, was making its way to the door, giggling and whispering. They fell silent when the new Professor of _Defense Against__ the Dark Arts_ suddenly looked at them intently, frowning.

James sneered whilst his brother sighed, shaking his head.

Lily rolled her eyes.

\- "All right, all right", she mumbled, taking out her wand to undo the seam that shortened her uniform skirt.

Her father's frown turned into a curt nod.

\- "Now, _this_ is magic", commented Samuel Flinch-Fletchley admiringly. "Even Persnickety Pal has never managed to make her yield."

If you put aside the director who was rarely seen in the corridors, Polycarpus Flaubert - tenderly nicknamed _Persnickety Pal_ \- was the grown-up the students most feared in Hogwarts. He was extremely punctilious, did not like children and spluttered. He had been teaching _Potions_ for two years now and everyone was complaining about his predecessor's retirement. Harry had simply shrugged when James had claimed he would never become an Auror if it meant he would have to keep being in class with him in sixth grade. To convince her son to persevere, Ginny had explained Flaubert was harmless compared to the professor the previous generation had dealt with and, armed with this kind of information, Lily had always managed to do exactly as she wanted.

Persnickety Pal, indeed, squawked a lot and his breath smelt of rotten onion, but he stuck to the interminable school rules to the last comma. He would have never, like in Ginny's old school stories, put the life of a student in danger. If you could prove him that his complaints were irrelevant, he turned purple and gasped like a toad. Lily Potter's ridiculously short skirt suffocated his sense of _proper_, but unfortunately, the standard length of this garment was not indicated anywhere...

\- "I think your father just got himself a best friend", said Terrence slurping down his pudding with a lot of noises, just to see Miranda Brown cringe. "But if he's this old-fashioned, it might disappoint his fan club."

\- "Good for him", Albus said, laughing. "He hates being asked for autographs and yesterday, he told Neville that if he saw _one_ animated badge with his head on it, he was going to quit faster than it takes to say the word _Quidditch_."

\- "Like if he'd run away with everything we have to do..."

Wendy cast a suspicious glance at the blond boy.

\- "What are you talking about? What do you "have to do"? And by way, I wanted to ask you: _where_ were you yesterday all day? Don't say "in the infirmary with Al" because I tried to visit him and Mrs. Abbot never let me in."

Albus almost choked on his pumpkin juice.

\- "S-sorry", he sputtered. "We… uh. We… sorry."

Wendy's left eyebrow, the one with the tiny carbuncle, puckered.

\- "What, "sorry"?" she repeated, a bit fazed. "You've done nothing wrong..."

\- "Boys are always in troubles, don't you know that? You should hang out with girls more often", Terrence grinned. He picked up his bag from under the bench and got up, throwing the strap over his head. "Well, shall we go? I don't want to be late for the _Charms_ test..."

Wendy jumped and hastily gathered her things.

\- "HA! The test! I had forgotten about it!"

\- "I figured so: you were really relaxed for someone who's about to add a T to her collection, Philips."

\- "Pipe down, Swanson."

Charlie Weasley's gaze followed them as they left the room still arguing, followed by Albus who was too used to their fights to care.

\- "She's not dull-witted either, this one. That might become a problem for us", he muttered under his breath, before helping himself to some more rhubarb mousse under the gaping eyes of the elves.

Scorpius had finished reading his letter and his plate was still full. He crumpled the piece of paper and chucked it angrily at the wall.

Professor Trelawney, who was passing at that time, was startled. Her big dragonfly myopic eyes stared at him in shock.

\- "Mr. Malfoy! _Violence_! Why?" she breathed in a trembling voice. "You could have hurt someone."

Neville Longbottom, a stack of books in his arms, stopped by them.

\- "I don't think this piece of paper could have hurt anyone, Sybil", he said gently. "Scorpius did not intend to leave trash lying around in the Great Hall either, I'm sure."

He smiled at the boy who was staring grimly at the floor, biting his lip.

\- "Mr. Malfoy, I believe the old fel'... I mean, Professor Flitwick would be disappointed if he had to give you detention for unjustified absence from his class."

Scorpius shrugged.

\- "… can't give me detention if I'm not in Hogwarts..." he mumbled.

Sybil and Neville shared a worried look.

\- "Come to my office, son" said Professor Longbottom after a while. "Let's have a cup of tea."

The student obeyed without a word, gloomily.

Charlie had not missed a thing.

* * *

oOoOoOo

* * *

Wendy unclipped the pin that held her brown bangs back and ruffled her hair. She puffed up her cheeks and blew loudly enough to startle Miranda Brown.

\- "Why do we _must_ describe what we're doing?" she grunted. She flattened her bangs back and pinned them again. "It's an _instinct_! As long as our wands are working, there's no need for that much prattle!"

Terrence burst out laughing as he secured the lid of his inkwell. He rolled his remaining scrolls and crammed them in his schoolbag.

\- "You've got ink all over", he pointed maliciously. "You should have put more ink on your essay than on your face."

\- "Enough, you two", Albus intervened absently.

He was looking around for something and Wendy stopped cleaning her face with the black board cloth that Terrence had 'kindly' handed her.

\- "What's the matter?"

\- "Have you seen Scorpius?"

The other two mechanically checked the classroom that was emptying gradually.

\- "Now that you mention it… nope."

\- "He _skipped_ the test, I can't believe it!" Wendy exclaimed, vaguely regretting not having thought about that herself.

Perhaps detention would have been better than the T she was almost certain she would get... She was good in practice, but she couldn't for the life of hers do well in theory.

\- "I'm sure he's taking a nap somewhere, lucky fellow" Terrence chortled. He yawned. "No wonder, after that n..."

Albus coughed to cut him and his friend winced apologetically.

\- "Oy, you three, move your butts, apparently _Care of Magical Creatures_ class will take place by the lake!" said Samuel Flinch-Flechley, one arm thrown across Craig Finnigan's shoulders.

\- "_What_?"

Fabius Macmillan jumped over a desk, his russet curls spiking in all directions.

\- "Did you not hear what the gorilla... I mean, Al's uncle, said over lunch? Where're your brains, Swanson? Lost in blue dreams? How come Potter and you look completely stoned? Where was the private party last night?"

Albus bashed him with his _Standard Book of Spells Level 4_ and the boy's head rang hollow.

\- "Don't you make fun of my uncle. He's a bloody good dragon master."

Fabius shrugged, rubbing an imaginary bump.

\- "For what it's useful, dragons..." he grumbled.

\- "Studying dragons is a very dangerous thing! Not everyone can improvise themselves a dragon master, it's a delicate and noble art", Rose Weasley intervened in her important voice. "And if you cared for something else than your bellybutton, you'd know how necessary they are nowadays."

She was holding her books on her heart and looked upset.

\- "Ah ... she was still here, that one…" sighed Samuel. "Go back to the library, Bookworm. Let normal people breath in peace."

Albus cleared his throat and his green orbs looked calmly at the boy who flinched, blushed and finally lowered his eyes, stepping off.

\- "Let's go, Craig. The best seats under the beech will be taken, if we don't hurry."

Terrence watched them go with a wry grin. Fabius Macmillan followed them, gobbling up a squeaking sugar mouse.

Wendy gave an awkward smile to Rose.

\- "Sorry", she said. "Boys. You know what they're like… daft. Anyway, we're not all super-smart like you Ravenclaws and, uh ... well, maybe they're just jealous. Not everyone's not like them, in Gryffindor, y'know. There're some nice people too."

Rose glared at her with eyes glistening with tears.

\- "I _know _that!" she hissed. "_Both_ my parents were in Gryffindor!"

She ran off with a bitter sob and Albus heaved a sigh, saddened.

\- "Do you think she failed the test?" Terrence asked while they were also taking the direction of the lake.

\- "It's because of her parents", explained Albus. "They divorced this summer. Apparently, one of the things her father told my aunt was that she was too - _literary_."

\- "Oh", Wendy gasped. "I'm sorry... I think your brother told me about it, but I didn't realize..."

\- "My _brother_?" Albus repeated, surprised. "When?"

\- "Yesterday. When you were in the hospital and Terrence was – _nowhere_ _to be found_."

The last words had creaked dangerously and the two boys looked at each other.

_"We'll have to tell her ..."_

_"No. We promised ..."_

_"Al, you know we won't be able to hide this from her for a long time..."_

_"Shut up. Please."_

The silent supplication more than the necessity to keep a secret that could shake all of Hogwarts put an end to the inaudible conversation.

Terrence had tried to convince the grown-ups to include Wendy in the plan, but he had failed.

As for Albus, he was not so sure he wanted to tell the truth about his supposed stay in the infirmary.

_Wasn't it going to change everything in their relationship? How would Wendy look at him when she'd know?_

The girl suddenly froze.

\- "Wow. What happened to them?"

Seventh graders were coming towards them under the arcades. One of them had his arm in a sling, some were limping, others had a black eye or a split lip.

\- "... First time we have a class like this..."

\- "T'was wicked!"

\- "... anyway, if you say again he's rusty, Buxtorf, I'll kill you!"

\- "... 's a nutter!"

\- "Awesome!"

\- "... Never seen something like that ..."

\- "… so strong!"

The trio gaped at them as they passed by.

\- "With which one of them were they in class?" Wendy finally articulated.

Terrence's eyes were gleaming with anticipation.

\- "_Defense Against__ the Dark Arts_! They're Hufflepuff seventh years. Al, apparently your father rocks as a teacher!"

His friend nodded prudently.

\- "I just hope their parents won't send too many complaints. I bet he confused them with aurors and even when he trains his own men, mum tells him to go easy on them... Terrence, stop drooling, you're flooding the place."

\- "Yeah, don't get your hopes up, Swanson", added Wendy whose red cheeks betrayed her own excitement. "Do you think we're going to learn to duel?"

\- "You guys are a lost cause..." sighed Albus.

The Black Lake was sparkling in the sunlight when they reached the pier on which were massed the Gryffindor and Slytherin fourth years who shared the class with them.

The students were staring at the stocky teacher who was standing in a small boat, in undershirt. His cropped red hair and the scars on his brawny arms made him look even more impressive. He was grinning broadly, not in the slightest worried by the tentacles of the Giant Squid that were dancing out of the water not far behind him.

\- "Welcome, welcome", he thundered. "Is everyone here?"

\- "If you'd do the roll call, you'd know..." someone muttered next to Albus and he realized with relief that it was Scorpius.

\- "Where were you?" he whispered.

\- "Somewhere, Potter", scowled the blond boy. "Focus, now, because if things slip like last night, it will end on the front page of the _Daily Prophet_. And not because Kevin Mordecrat is butting in things that are none of his concern."

Albus flushed up to his ears and hastily checked that no one had heard.

_Yesterday evening._

He only remembered having lost his concentration – when he had wished for a break - but Terrence had told him that the time during which the three adults, Scorpius and he had run behind the dragon had been _epic_. Toothless had had a lot of fun swimming in the moonlight and overturning every single boat with a playful muzzle...

\- "Professor? Is the Giant Squid the creature we're going to study today?" asked Violet Morgensten, raising her hand.

Charlie Weasley shook his head with a big laugh.

\- "Oh no, not so fast! We'll get to the squid only by the end of the year - or next week. Nah, today, it is these little beauties you're going to dance with!"

He pulled up a net hanging on the side of the boat while talking and everyone leaned forward to see better.

The water was bubbling, bright and clear, and long thin bodies were swarming in the meshes.

Wendy paled and gripped Albus' sleeve.

\- "Oh no, it's _worms_..."

Adelais Fowler had turned almost as green as the neckline of her Slytherin sweater.

\- "I hope we won't have to touch them", she gurgled.

Whistling, Charlie fished the net out of the water and flung it onto the pier.

The first rank instinctively recoiled in front of the tangled mass of eels.

\- "All right, then", the man said. "Pair up and get an eel each. Come on, don't be shy. Eels' eyes are a recurring ingredient in the preparation of potions. The farms are essential."

\- "Excuse me, professor, won't we be electrocuted?" asked Paul Sommerset.

Apart from the Muggle-borns, no one understood what he meant.

\- "Don't we need _gloves_?" Paul insisted.

\- "Nah. A little pinch has never hurt anyone", Charlie guffawed. "Go on, all of you. Terrence, you team up with Scorpius."

Wendy raised her eyebrows, but she had no time to wonder how the two names were already familiar to the new teacher, because the students were fishing up the slimy eels writhing on the pier.

Her face lighted up when she glimpsed the two yellow and black undulating tubes in the net. They looked less gross than their gray and pink congeners.

\- "Hey, Al. Let's take these two, okay?"

\- "Hum."

He looked even more disgusted than her, but he complied.

Charlie was watching them, smirking. As for Terrence, he had his eyes on the teacher.

_What was the dragon master up to again?_

The sun was beating on his neck, warmer than at the beginning of the week and if it had not stunk of fish, the afternoon would have been delicious by the beach. Dennis Castorman was plugging his nose and Fabius Macmillan was saluting people with a nasal voice: "Hello dear friend, what a beautiful day for a snake."

Wendy grabbed an eel in her handkerchief and straightened up, feeling nauseous.

\- "What do we do now, Mr. Weasley?" she stammered.

Charlie did not answer right away. His eyes were narrowed on Albus whose face was quivering like someone about to be sick.

\- "Professor?" squeaked Wendy. "I'm sorry to be so squeamish, but I _really_ don't like crawling creatures and..."

\- "Shut up", Albus uttered with a strange voice.

His fist tightened around the black and yellow eel wriggling at the end of his arm. His lips were parched, his teeth were gritted and something was itching in his throat.

_No no no._

_Keep in control, man._

It was really hard not to snap when he did not understand _why_ he was so angry.

Charlie snorted, happily ignoring Wendy's pleas. He clicked his tongue and clapped his hands.

\- "Okay, now you're going to measure them", he said, jumping on the pier and taking a few steps among the students. "We'll keep only the biggest ones and put them in stagnant water basins."

A collective gasp interrupted him. He turned just in time to see splashes on the lake.

\- "P-p-professor", stuttered Kevin Mordecrat. "Potter threw his ... eel in the lake."

\- "Ah", said Charlie like if he didn't care at all. "Please note that the eel is carnivorous and cannibalistic. To fatten them, we'll feed them fish mash."

Wendy was flabbergasted but Terrence only shrugged when she signed at him.

\- "Tss", Scorpius said.

Albus was looking at the lake and he hoped the low rumble tickling his glottis passed unnoticed in the noise of the waves.

\- "Have you gone bonkers?" Wendy rasped. "It's not because he's your uncle that you can behave like a marmoset. What's wrong with you?"

\- "Miss Philips, if you're not too busy chatting, would you mind telling us what are the eel's predators?"

Her cheeks burnt up under the inquisitive glare of the teacher.

\- "Uh ..."

\- "Perhaps you could tell us what _creature_ fears eels more than death?"

Terrence took a deep breath. He did not like this game at all. But before he could speak, Samuel Flinch-Fletchley raised his hand.

\- "Dragons", he said. "It was in the newspaper this morning. They hung eels all around the Aurors' camp in the Hebrides to protect from the rebels."

\- "Very well, young man. Ten points to Gryffindor. Gryffindor _is_ your house, isn't it?"

The Slytherins were groaning, exasperated.

\- "But he is completely _mental_, that one", moaned Dennis. "I'll tell my father."

Violet Morgensten nodded vigorously.

\- "Hogwarts' a mess, these days..."

Scorpius snorted.

\- "Well, that's nothing. Just wait till we're in _Defense Against the Dark Arts_..."

* * *

**_TBC_**

* * *

_Next chapter_ : **BROTHERS**


	13. Brothers

**BROTHERS**

* * *

James Sirius Potter walked across the Gryffindor common room, winking around, high-fiving, quiping and laughing, not forgetting to toss his head with the special movement that rid him of the brown lock brushing his left eye while giving him an incredibly cool look.

Sometimes - _very__ rarely_ – his carefree and popular personality was a weight and he needed to make an effort to maintain the appearances.

_Like now__, for example._

The "big brother" part was not one of the roles people expected from him. He had carefully avoided meddling in Albus and Lily's lives when they had arrived at Hogwarts. It was one thing to tease them at home or to share a candy package during the school year, but James did not want to be accountable to his parents about what could happen to his cadets.

"_To each his own mistakes, to each his own success_," often said his mother when her sons tried to put blame on each other, or when Lily wanted to shorten the congratulations given to one of the children. James had applied this philosophy to Hogwarts without any trouble. Albus, of course, had had much trouble with that. Fortunately, Lily was smart enough to not need her brothers' help and, in the end, the second Potter boy had stuck to worry about his friends – just like his father had done in his own time, if one was to believe the old stories of their aunts and uncles.

Until now, everything had been fine.

But since Minerva McGonagall had announced the replacements in the staff, James could not shake off a strange feeling of unease.

_Why had his father come running to school two days after Al had fallen during Quidditch workouts?_

_What secret had let out the Boggart?_

_And _who_ could possibly believe someone would buy the story of their spending holidays in Graphorns' territory?_

Suddenly, like soap bubbles, were hatching in his mind lots of unsettling memories, countless times when Harry's eyes had been staring at Albus anxiously as if there was something he did not say aloud, glances his parents had shared, all those times someone had sighed: "He's not like you or Lily."

_Yes, Al loved books and was rather shy._

_So what?_

He was in Gryffindor, just like them. He played Quidditch, he had fun with his mates, his grades were fine and he probably had a crush on the girl with long brown hair who hung out with him all the time.

_One couldn't get more _ordinary_ than that._

James heaved a sigh and ruffled his hair.

He walked around the slouched sofa and leaned back against the fireplace, frowning.

_"What did you do, Al?_

_Why did Dad drop everything for you?_

_Is there something I should have noticed before it came to that?"_

His eyes scanned his brother's face, a bit annoyingly. Albus was snuggled against the armrest, on which a cat was purring, his knees drawn up against his chest. There was a toad on his head and another huddled against his cheek. He was fast asleep, his mouth slightly open, and his best friend - _the smart blond whose name James could never remember_ \- was sprawled on the cushions next to him, his glasses across the face, his legs stretched on the old scarlet carpet. The third spot on the sofa was occupied by the young Malfoy whose bluish dark circles gave an even more sickly look.

_Why do you hang out with them, Al? Wasn't there anyone _else_? You _really_ like to single yourself out, don't you? Just because Uncle Ron said it was better to avoid this kid, you _had_ to decide to take him under your wing, of course..._

James crossed his arms and chewed the inside of his mouth. He had no idea what he was going to say.

One of his teeth ached dully.

_"It's your fault Dad may have lost his tenure in the Ministry of Magic?"_

_Might as well throw him off the top of the Astronomy Tower._

_"I can help you, you know. Just tell me what's wrong..."_

_Yeah, sure._

_"You _do_ know that even if I act rotten at home, I actually love you, don't you?"_

_So marshmallowed it'd make one vomit._

He huffed in exasperation, stepped forward, cleared off the toads and shook his brother's shoulder.

_"Action, James._

_It still does you better than ten thousand years of thinking."_

Albus groaned, cracked open an eye and yawned.

\- "Dad? Is it time already?" he slurred. "Coming... Terri, Scorp... we..."

He jumped when he saw his big brother.

\- "_James_? What are _you_ doing here?"

The sixteen years old boy pulled a face and perched on the armrest, shamelessly toppling off the cat.

\- "Until proven otherwise, it's _also_ my common room in here."

Albus looked terribly embarrassed and a certain eagerness to make him even more uncomfortable jiggled in James' stomach. He drowned it with the genuine concern he felt diffusely.

\- "What are _you_ doing, Al? I heard you're _in detention_ all week. What did you do to earn this?"

Had he been in his normal state, he probably would have said "wow! Way to go, bro!" but the idea did not even crossed his mind.

His brother shrugged.

\- "T's none of your concern. Nothing."

\- "Nothing! This is the _first_ detention you got in four years!"

James had nearly choked when Jeremy Shacklebolt had told him Quidditch practice would happen without their Seeker who had "managed to get himself locked in detention until the next game."

_Albus Severus Potter in detention? It was the world upside down._

_And one more thing to add to the utter nonsense disrupting Hogwarts' routine..._

Terrence muttered in his sleep. He rolled to the side with a silly grin. Scorpius was now slumped with his nose in the other boy's armpit.

\- "And _why_ are you all dead beat?" James added, edgy. "Is it because Spring's coming?"

Albus blushed to the tip of his ears.

\- "No, not at all. We're in detention together, that's all. They make us... uh... clear brush the _Forbidden Forest_. Late at night."

James snorted dangerously.

\- "Yes, _sure_. And Dad's imaginary Graphorn is about to receive the Grand Order of Merlin for his thesis in Mugglogy."

\- "_Muggle Studies"_, Albus corrected absently, then his shoulders shrank under his brother's blazing stare. "Sorry, James," he added hurriedly.

James shook his head grimly.

\- "_Sorry_?" he repeated. "That's all you can say?"

Albus nibbled his lips.

\- "You're in detention almost every month, I'm not listening to a lecture from _you_", he retorted, annoyed.

\- "I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT YOUR BLOODY DETENTION!" James yelled, jumping on his feet.

The silence that fallen on the common room made him turn and he glared at everyone who had their head in their direction.

\- "Let's go out", he snarled, grabbing his brother's wrist and dragging him out of the room.

They rushed down the spiral staircase and barged on the other side of the portrait of the goat rider, out of breath, so fast they nearly bumped in the railing white stone overlooking the void.

\- "I don't have my shoes", Albus stammered when his brother let go of his bruised wrist.

James clenched his fists. He sighed deeply, then bent down and took off his own shoes.

\- "Put these on", he ordered gruffly. "If you get sick on top of this, Mum will skin me alive."

He thrust his hands in his pockets and tried to control his ragged breathing whilst Albus slid his feet in the shoes too large for him.

There was no one else under the high ceiling and the stairs stood almost still.

\- "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you..." the younger murmured after a while.

\- "I'M NOT WORRIED !" James barked.

His bad faith was so obvious the other boy chuckled despite himself.

\- "It makes you _laugh_?" James exploded. "Seriously, are you daft, or what? Do you understand the mess you created? Dad hired to be a _teacher_? Journalists, an imaginary graphorn and now you're _in detention_? Are you proud of yourself? Trying to screw up your reputation of being a good little baby? Mum's worried stiff and if the parents get a divorce, Lily will hold _you_ responsible!"

He stopped because Albus' face had blanched.

\- "They had a fight because of me?"

Something crumbled within James immediately. He stepped forward, put his hand on his little brother's shoulder.

\- "Yes, but it's not going to end up like... uh. Well. Anyway, they'll patch things up, don't worry. It's not your fault, 'kay? Well, it is… a bit. But it's grown-ups' business. Whatever they end up deciding, _they_ are responsible."

He wanted to groan in frustration.

_Darn big __green eyes against which you couldn't possibly hold a grudge..._

He pulled away, determined to get the answers he was looking for.

\- "The Boggart..."

Albus did not stiffen as much as he had expected, which reassured him a little.

\- "What did you see, exactly? These rumors are ridiculous. Did you talk to Dad? I'm sure he has a good explanation."

\- "T'was just a nightmare", hastily mumbled his brother. "Dad never did such a thing. It was all in my head."

James raised an eyebrow and came closer again.

\- "I _know_ you're lying", he said wearily. "Lily's much better than you at this game".

Albus unconsciously stepped back and found himself cornered by the railing.

\- "Leave me alone", he protested, as if crushed by the three inches that allowed his big brother to look down on him.

The defiance in his eyes was mixed with something that was not fear and this intrigued James even more.

\- "What are you hiding, Al?"

\- "_Nothing_!"

For a moment they were on the verge of brawling like it had happened to them once or twice.

_"You're protecting something, isn't it? Something you love and don't want to share..._

_What and why, Al?"_

Someone cleared his throat and James let go of his brother's arm.

\- "Mr. Potter, I believe you were given an appointment at eight o'clock at the gate", said Neville Longbottom, gazing at the two boys alternatively.

\- "I'm on my way", Albus muttered, rushing down the stairs.

James stared back at the teacher who was a friend of their parents.

\- "Why do you always treat us like children?" he growled.

Neville sighed.

\- "Because you do stupid things?" he suggested, very quietly. "Where are your shoes, James?"

The teenager glanced at him furiously. He was about to retort something when Terrence and Scorpius suddenly bursted out of the passage leading to the Gryffindor common room.

\- "Why didn't you rouse me up?" Malfoy was complaining.

\- "_You_ were supposed to watch the time!" Swanson threw over his shoulder. "Evening, professor, sorry, we're off!"

He hopped down the stairs, putting on his shoes, followed by Scorpius who was tying up his cloak.

\- "Where are you going?" James shouted. "Wait for me!"

Neville grabbed his shoulder to stop him.

\- "To detention. The three of them are grounded", he said curtly. "I can arrange a week of dishwashing in the castle kitchens or some cauldrons to clean with my esteemed colleague Flaubert, if you envy them that much."

James jolted off and his eyes blazed, clearly telling "shut up and please don't take that 'I understand you' voice, it's disgusting" but the teacher did not seem to take offense. Nor did he react when the portrait of the goat rider tumbled down because James had slammed the door violently after rushing into the passage.

He just sighed again then continued his rounds in the corridors.

_"We won't be able to keep the secret for much longer, Harry..._

_Very soon, there will be too many unanswered questions..._

_James and Lily are no fools. They probably already realized we were hiding something._

_And after them the rest of the school will too."_

He stopped by one of the arch windows of the first floor and rubbed his chin.

\- "Oh."

What he was watching made him forget for a moment the mountain of problems that stemmed from their secret, the fact it was him who had invented the "detention" cover and that he was not proud of lying to all his students, including to some of his colleagues.

\- "That's beautiful…"

Wendy did not know she was using the exact same words her Herbology teacher was muttering on the floor below. Her nose pressed against the glass, she was lost in the contemplation of the sheaves of blue sparks flaring over the Forbidden Forest, like ephemeral flowers.

_"Is__ it the magic of the Centaurs? Maybe that of the Unicorns… Who can produce something this delicate and powerful at once?"_

Her fingers were trying to catch the glows flashing in a wild ballet.

_"Maybe__ that's what they call a _Patronus_? No... It looks like fireworks..._

_I'd like to__ see them from closer..."_

But she would have never dared sneaking out at night. She wondered for a while if the boys could see the blue lights from where they were, then she decided they were probably busy weeding Bert Hammersmith's vegetable garden and would be sorry to have missed such a show. She fished a parchment in her schoolbag and, not caring about her bare feet curled up on the cold stone of the windowsill, she tried to draw the beautiful sight.

But her drawing wasn't a hit at all, the next day.

Terrence, Albus and Scorpius were in an advanced state of fatigue and a suspicious euphoria made them hiccup from time to time. They had lunch in a daze, chuckling when their eyes met, and did not even try to pretend they were interested in what she was saying.

The oddest of the three was Albus who was beaming at nothing, while his brother and sister shot him mournful glances from their tables. Terrence and Scorpius had badly healed blisters on their foreheads and their bangs were blackened and rough like if they had been burnt, but they claimed – _and they were absolutely not convincing_ – they had fallen asleep next to the fire the night before, when coming back late from detention.

Wendy wished there had been someone who made sense to talk to at her table, but Rose Weasley was buried in the _Daily Prophet_ and Craig Finnigan was far too busy gossiping with Samuel Flinch-Fletchley.

\- "... and apparently they burnt to ashes _three_ villages! If they don't like the negotiator, they'll probably fry her like a sausage on a spit!"

A milk jug flew across the table and hit the Irish boy's head, splashing on everybody around.

\- "Hugo, are you out of your mind?!" yelped Alison Corner.

The redhead had his fists clenched and his eyes were full of tears. He was not very tall and had to stretch his neck to glare at Finnigan who was staring at him unbelievingly.

\- "Take back what you said", hissed Hugo in a quivering voice.

\- "He's going to get himself a good beating", commented Fabius Macmillan in between two spoonful of oatmeal.

\- "Hugo, drop it", his sister intervened wearily.

\- "IT'S ABOUT MUM!" shrieked the boy, out of it. "HOW CAN YOU LET THEM SAY..."

\- "Mr. Weasley, come with me, please", cut in Professor Lovegood who was coming in floating steps from across the dining hall. "Come, my child. You too, Miss Weasley."

Rose bit her lip and slammed the newspaper on the table before getting up and picking up her bag angrily. She grabbed her brother's hand and pulled him behind her in a deadly silence.

\- "Her mother is _Hermione Granger_? The director of the _Departement for Regulation and Control of_ _Magical Creatures_?" gasped Paul Sommerset, amazed, looking up from the article that announced the dispatch of a delegation to the Hebrides. "Why don't they have the same surname?"

His neighbor thrust his elbow in his ribs.

\- "And her father's the Auror. Did you just fall from the moon or what?"

\- "I'm muggle born", the boy muttered. "I'm just starting with the wizarding world politics..."

\- "I don't understand why the shrimp was so mad. They didn't mean to insult his precious mother", said Adelais Fowler to her friend as they passed behind the Gryffindor bench with glasses of pumpkin juice.

Wendy's gaze followed the two Weasley, then came back to her three friends who had not noticed the uproar at all. She wanted to slap them, but only shrugged in the end. They looked exhausted beyond limits.

_Maybe Bert Hammersmith had them sniff too much fertilizer..._

At the end of breakfast, the conversations were on a different topic. The fourth year of Gryffindor would have their first lesson with the new professor of _Defense Against the Dark Arts_, and opinions were divided between fear and jubilation.

\- "I heard yesterday McGonagall in person came to his class when he was with the Ravenclaw third years", Violet Morgensten told them as the group headed for the classroom. "Apparently she said: _Mr. Potter, what must I do to remind you these children have no other enemy than their year-end examinations and that we are not at war anymore_?"

Her outraged and a bit shaky voice perfectly imitated that of the director and some people laughed feebly under the arcades.

\- "They say he levitated the little Donald Abercrombie!" squeaked someone.

Cries of horror - and delight - mingled. Irritated, Wendy slowed down to wait for the three boys who were walking in a daze. Terrence had an arm around each of his friends' necks and was whispering something. Scorpius giggled hysterically and Albus smiled mysteriously.

_"He seems... more..._

_Handsome…"_

Wendy shook her head, troubled by the strange thoughts suddenly crossing her mind.

\- "Hurry up, you three!" she called. "You're going to be late! You don't want to earn yourselves a second week of detention!"

They looked up and saw something behind her that sobered them instantly.

Scorpius, especially, became white as a sheet and Wendy turned round, surprised.

They had arrived at the classroom and in front of the wooden gates were standing two men.

Harry Potter, wearing blue-jeans and a sweater that swore totally with the image of a respectable teacher.

And another man, tall, slender and so blond his hair was almost white, elegantly dressed, leaning on a cane with a silver knob, who looked exactly like an older version of Scorpius.

* * *

**_TBC_**

* * *

_Next chapter_: **OUR FATHERS ENNEMIES**


	14. Our fathers ennemies

**OUR FATHERS ENNEMIES**

* * *

The two men were facing each other and did not seem to realize they were being observed by about thirty puzzled and vaguely worried Gryffindor students.

\- "You're not supposed to be here, Malfoy", said Harry in a low voice. "It's been a long time since Hogwarts was a toy to the rich pure-blood families."

\- "Then what are _you_ doing here, Potter?" smirked the man in a black redingote. "_Teaching_? The perfect candidate to Minister of Magic? You were always a young mister-know-it-all, so it doesn't surprise _me_, but to think old McGonagall was recruiting her staff on such ridiculous criteria..."

He shrugged, scrunching up his nose in disdain.

\- "In any case, I won't wait for another scandal to remove my son from this school. Scorpius has better things to do than being taught by an ex-Auror in need of sensations."

Harry sneered.

\- "What do you fear, Draco? That I'd turn him into a _weasel,_ for example?"

The elegant man's fair complexion flushed purple.

\- "I forbid you!"

\- "Oh, but I'd never do such a deed", said the new professor of _Defense Against__ the Dark Arts_, slipping his hands in his pockets like if he was holding a normal conversation. "I'm not Mad-Eye and I paid my debt to your mother a long time ago. Minerva wouldn't have accepted me in her team if I was unable to teach, she's not yet senile."

A shudder ran over the students upon hearing the two men speaking in such informal terms of the all-powerful director.

Harry paused and his voice softened.

\- "I won't treat your son differently, Draco. I have kids too, you know."

Scorpius's father sniggered.

\- "And you cast _Unforgivable Curses_ at them! A famous parent, I see."

For a moment it seemed as he was going to keep it to this verbal sparring then a vein swelled on his pale forehead and his lips tightened.

\- "Have you lost your mind after killing so many people, Potter?" he hissed. "Blood, blood, blood! Now you can't even make a difference between reality and your nightmares, isn't it? I never understood how a murderer like you was allowed to enter politics! You were already putting others at risk when you were in school, it must have been so satisfying for you to have the right to hurt people when you became an Auror! And don't get me started on the victims you made when you were on the run!"

\- "Shut it, Malfoy!" roared Harry who had stiffened – and the involuntary onlookers had the strange feeling they were watching an argument between teenagers. "What do you _want_, in the end? To confirm my political career is ruined? It is – happy? A duel in due forms? Why _now_? It's been more than _twenty years_!"

His voice was hoarse with bitterness.

\- "Do you think if I still had a score to settle with you, I'd have waited all this time? I don't give a damn about your regrets, Malfoy! I kept my word, you're alive, nobody made you pay for your-"

He froze suddenly, as if someone had emptied a bucket of ice water on his head: his eyes had fallen on Scorpius and Albus who were staring at him.

The two boys were ashen.

\- "Let's continue this conversation in private", he panted. "They…"

\- "No", the blond man cut in sharply.

His aristocratic features were twisted by his anger and Terrence, who had stepped forward as if to shield his two friends, also could read unspeakable suffering in the gray eyes burning with rage.

\- "You may think you're a saint, Potter, but you can't be more wrong. You believed yourself full of compassion with your _forgiveness_, but you made our lives miserable."

The words were dripping with venom, and Harry received them in the face like spurts of Stinksap.

\- "Acquitted? Yes, _sure_! Dishonored, rejected, disowned. I had to rebuild from scratch, with this constant infamy clinging to my heels and _my mother_..."

A grimace distorted his mouth and his pointed face puckered, like if each sentence was churning in his guts. He took in a deep breath and continued icily.

\- "You were _everywhere_, of course. In the newspapers, the conversations, in politics and in the most sordid pubs, they were singing your praises. Azkaban filled by you with people who never had the choice to make another decision and finally _your kids_ in Hogwarts with _my son_!"

\- "You just had to move..." Harry began, feeling his irritation rise again despite the two motionless figures in the corner of his eye and the growing guilt wrenching his diaphragm.

Draco Malfoy let go of another piercing laughter and this time the students took a step back, terrified. Wendy dared not breathe, much less look at Albus.

\- "_Run away_! Absurd. _Malfoys_ do not run away, Potter. My mother was _a__ Black_."

His nostrils were quivering, and his knuckles had turned white on his cane.

\- "We could have lived ignoring each other, Potter", he went on with a strangely disembodied voice. "But then the filthy little rat that is your eldest took my son for target of his dirty pranks..."

Harry bit his lip to keep in control and a drop of blood pearled where his skin had been burst.

He remembered being in King's Cross Station, gratitude filling him as he passed without confrontation by the blond man with a child who looked some much like his younger self.

_And to think he had imagined for a moment that one day, perhaps, they would be able to..._

Draco's acerbic voice brought him back to reality.

\- "But the worst of it all is your _other_ kid."

All students, except for Scorpius who looked about to be sick, turned to Albus. His emerald eyes were on the man who was spitting his bile.

\- "After the shame of knowing our only son had been sorted into Gryffindor, I didn't think I would also have to constantly hear about _Albus Severus Potter_."

The first name had shaken him with nausea, the second had flayed his mouth and the third had sounded like a disgusting joke.

The blond man's gray eyes were weighting Albus with contempt mixed with an incomprehensible hatred, and Terrence forgot that he was fourteen, that the gesture could create a lot of misunderstanding and that it was not 'manly'. Without thinking, he grabbed his best friend's hand and squeezed it.

Wendy saw the movement and her throat felt a bit less constricted.

_How could Albus and__ Scorpius bear with the horrific bursts of sentences?_

It felt like thousands of small cuts were opening on her face with every word.

_What had__ the war been like for such animosity to remain burning after so many years?_

_Did growing up__ made you cruel and heartless?_

_Why__ could none of the two men see that their sons were right there?_

Like if they had forgotten everything and were back in the past, Draco and Harry were glaring at each other.

\- "It must have pleased you, eh, St.-Potter, to learn that my son was not brilliant, that he was so unlike our family that he could not even succeed in being sorted in Slytherin !"

\- "The sorting ceremony is _not_ something you _fail_!" snapped Harry, his green eyes blazing behind his round glasses. There was sweat beading at the roots of his tangled black hair. "And I never thought anything special about..."

\- "What a liar", Malfoy sneered with a haughty gesture that rumpled his dark frock. "You _knew_ the children were in the same bedroom, that they helped each other with homework – were _friends_."

The last word hardly passed his lips, like if he was choking on it.

\- "Our children proved to be less narrow-minded than us, Draco, that's all", Harry said curtly. "Things might have been different if you and I had not been enemies from Day One..."

He paused for a moment, then a half-smile brushed his split lips.

\- "You didn't tell your son either... maybe you also believed it was possible, deep inside."

The silence that followed was deafening.

Then Malfoy straightened to his full height (_he was taller than Harry and so slim the hero seemed almost thick and stumpy next to him_) and slicked back his blond hair. He tapped his cane on the ground and sparks crackled on the tiles.

\- "As long as I'm alive, Scorpius will _never_ be in class with you", he rasped. "I can do with incessantly hearing about a runt who is six months behind the others, flies on his broomstick like an exhibitionist and attracts all that is feathered or fur, because _for some reason_ my wife seems to think it's a _good thing_, but I will _never_ let you become my son's teacher, Potter."

Wendy's heart was pounding so hard against her ribs she thought people could hear it echoing in the hallway.

\- "I guess the Ministry of Magic might find means to rehabilitate you if you go take a few blows in the Hebrides. Pack your bags quickly, I don't want Scorpius to be delayed in his studies."

Harry had – _almost_ – stopped breathing. His fists were clenched and his jade orbs were throwing daggers at the blond man.

\- "What if I don't want to leave?" he asked, in such a low voice it was barely audible.

\- "Then…"

\- "NO."

All blood was gone from Scorpius's face, but his voice did not quaver. His gray eyes had turned a purplish black. He was standing very stiff.

\- "I will not go with you. I'll stay here and _Professor_ Potter will give his class. Parents don't have a say in the choice of teachers. Even if a werewolf was appointed to teach us, you would have _nothing _to say."

For a millisecond, Draco and Harry shared the same ironic expression, then the blond man's dark eyebrows narrowed dangerously.

\- "Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy. Don't you think for a minute you can challenge me", he hissed.

His voice and eyes were ice-cold, but the teenager did not look away.

\- "Thank you for coming, Father", he said very politely. "I have to get going now, but I will spend some time with you if you're still here when my lesson's over. Give my best regards to Mother."

Next to Wendy, Violet Morgensten suddenly put her hands over her mouth with a hiccup.

Terrence let go of Albus' hand and stepped forward.

\- "You heard him, sir, we have a class to attend. Excuse me, but we can't get inside if you stay standing there."

Other students started to move as well and murmurs rose. Craig Finnigan pulled a book from his bag and walked to Harry.

\- "Professor, I have a question about chapter 11. We only did theory so far and I was wondering if..."

\- "ENOUGH!" Malfoy barked, immediately freezing all those who had dared to move.

He sliced through the teenagers and marched to his son with his hand raised, as if he was going to slap him or to drag him away.

Albus stepped in front of Scorpius and the silence in the hallway became thick as lead.

The blond man looked furiously at the boy who stood between him and his son.

\- "What-do-you-want?" he hissed. "Get out of my way."

Albus shook his head, not moving an inch. He was very pale and his dark eyelashes made his green orbs look even bigger.

\- "I'm sorry", he whispered. "I'm really sorry to be... just that."

Harry closed his eyes.

_"It's not__ true, Albus. You're a lot more than _just that_."_

Terrence clenched his fists. Wendy dared take a step forward, her hands clutched on her books. Scorpius' eyes, which had stayed dry until then, welled up with tears.

The black-haired teenager lifted his chin, his gaze looking deep in the blond man's eyes.

\- "Please, let him stay", he said quietly.

Malfoy blinked.

A moment before, he was boiling with indignation, and now his anger was crumbling down with no reason.

\- "You don't understand", he growled.

Albus smiled - the same smile that had tamed the rabid guard dog from _Honeydukes_.

\- "Yes, I don't", he whispered. "But _you_ do."

Draco cleared his throat, destabilized.

Something warm and soft was bubbling up slowly inside him.

He turned to Harry who was watching his son and did not seem to decipher what was happening either.

Someone tugged at his sleeve. He looked down.

\- "Father", pleaded Scorpius who was now standing next to Albus, lifting his thin face like when he was a child.

The man swallowed hard, trying to hold on to the snatches of exasperation that slipping out of his mind like a handful of sand.

He was cradling a tiny baby in his arms and swearing to himself he would never be like his father.

He was crouching and a child with pale hair was toddling up to his outstretched arms and falling on his heart with a happy twittering.

He was sitting on the sofa, reading the letter from Hogwarts and, leaning against him, a boy dressed like a little prince tried to hold in his excitement, his eyes sparkling with joy.

He was standing on the station platform and watched his son get on the red train of his childhood. The world was at peace, and no one would ever again try to rob the innocence of a young student.

Stunned, he was showing Scorpius' letter to his wife, the line where it was written in proud yet prudent words that his son had been sorted into Gryffindor.

It was the 1st of September and that damned Harry was again on the station platform with his three excited brats. The Weasley girl had put on some weight since she had stopped playing for the "Holyhead Harpies". _Good. Served her right_. Granger was prettier than he remembered, but she still looked like a stuck-up bookworm. Her children looked like their simpleton father.

His teeth were gritted as he pictured his son's humiliation when the oldest Potter had made him tripped in the dining hall. Scorpius was getting up, treacle tart splattered all over his blond hair and his father wanted to pound on the morons who were bullying him.

Then things had changed, unexpectedly, inexplicably.

On the station platform, the third year, Scorpius had said goodbye hurriedly and run to a green-eyed boy who was waiting for him at the carriage's door. _Albus Severus Potter_. The name was filling the letters, much more than student life silly stories or questions about his mother's health. _How could have Harry given his child names so heavy with memories? What kind of sick joke was that?_

He begged, scolded, threatened, but Scorpius continued to lower his head stubbornly. _Al, Al, Al_. There was no way to make him give up the doomed friendship. His lonely son had made other friends too - a Muggle-born boy who was probably going to blow up Hogwarts someday, a skinny girl with no manners and a stupid grin – and he was talking of strolls by the lake, Quidditch, science experiments that looked far more dangerous than flirting with dark magic. He had _cried_ over the death of a _ferret_ named Spoon and spent half his allowance at _Weasley's Wizard Wheezes_.

His mother was on his side and Draco, despite himself, was forced to admit that his so serious and so uptight son looked more his age, more alive – definitely _happy_. And nothing else mattered, in the end.

A house elf was handing him the _Daily Prophet_ and suddenly the old resentment had burnt his eyes as he read the newspaper: Harry Potter was suspected of attempted murder on his own flesh.

_And not just anyone. It was the boy Scorpius was so infatuated with. _

This was terribly suspicious. An endless line of reasons was jostling in his mind, he had a headache, he was pacing like a caged animal in the living room.

Then it was announced the minister's secretary was going to be a teacher at Hogwarts, and Draco had sudden flashes of Snape's continual humiliations: the cauldrons emptied, the unjustified detentions, the condescending glances and veiled taunts took a whole other meaning.

_Harry hated him, just like Severus Snape had hated James Potter. He was going to take his revenge. Scorpius' life would become hell._

A minute later, he was negotiating his visit to the school and inside his chest something was blistering like a stinging hex - something bitterly painful, violent.

Someone tugged at his sleeve. He opened his eyes.

\- "Father, I'm sorry I defied you..." Scorpius muttered.

His gray dove eyes were the only pure thing in the world and Draco felt his last barricades crumble down.

\- "Please. I want to stay here. I'm not afraid."

The blond man snorted to maintain his mask.

_"Afraid of__ what, my son? Of me?"_

He had sworn he would never become like his own father.

_He would make__ the right choices._

_He__ would never be a coward._

_He would look at the world__ in the eyes and show everyone the honor of a true Malfoy._

He tried to smile and his face grimaced scarily. But Scorpius read further than the purplish vein throbbing on his father's forehead, deeper than his furrowed brow and the cold steel of his eyes.

He tilted his chin to show he had understood and withdrew his hand.

Draco took a deep breath. His eyes fell again on the kid who had enrolled in Hogwarts at eleven and a half, the same year as his son.

_The boy__ who looked so much like his worst enemy._

_Albus__ Severus Potter_.

Two big emerald orbs were looking at him. They were pleading like those of a child, but there was an immense compassion deep behind and it felt like something very ancient, eternal.

The ball of bitterness and regret in his heart melted under this pair of green suns and Draco allowed himself a shrug.

_"Ah. That's why._

_Father and son smitten by Saint Potter's son. The end of the world is probably close..."_

Suddenly this was not so difficult to accept.

He spun on his heels and turned to Harry.

\- "All right, then", he tsk-ed. "But if I hear only once..."

Harry quickly shook his head.

\- "I know. No transfiguration examples or Unforgivable Curses. I'll stick to Cornish pixies."

The shadow of a smile passed on Malfoy's face, then he put a hand on his son's head, looked at him one last time then went down the hallway, his back very straight in his black redingote, his sharp features unreadable. Lost in thought, Harry watched the arrogant tall figure disappear at the corner.

\- "Uh... Professor?"

He started, came back to the present moment and found the students gathered around him, silent and somewhat pale, still shaken by what had happened.

\- "Yes, my boy?"

\- "Craig Finnigan, sir. My father's name's Seamus. He was in school with you."

Harry laughed and the hallway warmed up at once.

\- "Yeah, he was indeed. He had the gift of setting fire to everything he touched."

\- "It is true you could perform a _Patronus _charm when you were our age?" whispered a girl.

\- "Will you levitate us?" asked Paul Sommerset, who seemed to want to volunteer himself for the example.

Fabius shyly raised his hand.

\- "Me too, my father was in school with you, sir. _Ernie__ Macmillan_. He said it was you who taught him everything in _Defense Against__ the Dark_ _Arts_..."

Violet Morgenstern and Miranda Brown's eyelashes were fluttering rapidly, like if they had just woken up. Terrence was casually clinging on Scorpius' back. Wendy looked like a mouse struck by lightning as she silently checked on her friends.

Harry heaved out the sigh that had been blocking his lungs for a while and he felt better. He quietly put his arm on the shoulders of his son who unconsciously snuggled against him.

He grinned.

\- "Well, I didn't teach him _all_ he knows. But both your fathers and a bunch of other students, when they were in fifth grade, formed a secret class to learn to fight. We called it D.A., short for _Dumbledore's Army_ ... and the first spell we worked on was the one we will study today. _Expelliarmus_."

\- "It's a disarming charm", said Samuel Flinch-Fletchley in a very respectful tone. "The _Daily Prophet_ said it's with it you defeated the Dark Lord..."

Harry opened the classroom's gates and the students went in, pressed around him, attentive and fascinated.

\- "It is a very useful spell in a duel. I learned it from a teacher named Severus Snape."

Against him, Albus' body stopped shaking and the boy straightened up.

\- "Is it true?" he asked, his eyes suddenly shining.

\- "I heard of him before. He was the Potions master when you were in school", Finnigan chirped excitedly. "My father told me all about him! He was even more feared than Persnickety Pal!"

Samuel nudged him and he narrowed his eyes, waiting for the points that would be withdrawn because of this insolence, but Harry burst into a loud laugh.

\- "Polycarpus Flaubert is someone you'd gain to know better! If one of you dares to ask him about _Polyjuice Potion_, I'll tell you a good story. Something not to do that we did with my mates when I was in Second Year. Now, take out your wands and on with the class!"

He clapped his hands as they sat in front of the old stairs leading to the DADA teacher's office and the gates closed on the joyous hubbub buzzing in the large hall filled with foe-glasses.

The shadows were far away in the mirrors, almost invisible, and the classroom was nicely warm.

The war was over.

* * *

**_TBC_**

* * *

**_I hope you like it! Please let me know what you hope for, what part you enjoyed most or really didn't like, who made you cringe and which character is your favorite!_**

**_Nothing helps me better than hearing from you when I'm about to wrestle with my own text's translation and I'm _so very grateful_ to all of you who took the time to write a review. Takes sometimes 7 to 13 hours to turn the French version into an acceptable English chapter, so that's why I'm so slow to update. By the way, I'm doing my best and I hope there aren't too many mistakes... (argh) I'll keep working hard!_**

**_Now, off I go to work on next chapter : _****SARDINES****_._**

**_It's going to be VERY fluffy. Just sayin' ^^_**


	15. Sardines

** SARDINES**

* * *

Wendy stifled a long yawn and turned a page of her _Flesh-eating Trees of the World _book, casting a sleepy glance at the clock.

_Ten to Midnight__._

The notes she had scribbled during the last half hour overlapped, increasingly unreadable. Her stomach grumbled. She was done with the schematics requested for her _Muggle Studies_ class but she still had her Herbology homework to do, as well as making a list of ingredients for one of Pernickety Pal's darn potions.

_"I should go to bed...__ the elves must be waiting to do the cleanup..."_

As if he had heard, Fetloack appeared in a light pop. He sniffled, unfolding his large triangular ears, glanced around him with a big smile which dimmed a bit when he realized the girl was alone.

\- "Yo, Fetloack, good timing", she said, amused.

\- "What can Fetloack do for Miss Wendy?" inquired the little creature, lifting his protuberant eyes.

\- "Do you happen to have something to eat with you?" she pleaded with her best good-doggie pout. "Anything, a piece of bread, leftovers from dinner, a cuppa..."

Fetloack's thick brows furrowed.

\- "Students should only eat at mealtimes", he recited sternly. "Children should not eat so many sweets in their dormitories. The elves disagree, yes, yes, yes. Rubbish and sticky candies are all over the place! Fetloack stepped on something gluey and his foot became _blue_!"

He looked absolutely disgusted at the memory.

\- "I'm sorry", the girl quickly said, trying not to laugh. "I promise _I_ won't leave crumbs! I'm starving, Fetloack, I had too much homework..."

The elf waddled from one foot to the other.

\- "Albus might come down", lied Wendy, feeling a bit ashamed.

She knew saying this would work, but she was not too proud to trick the immediately overjoyed creature.

\- "Fetloack will immediately see to a snack for the young master! Hogwarts students work too much! They must get some rest!"

And before she could change her mind, he disappeared again in an enthusiastic fingers snap.

Wendy sighed.

\- "No way Al's going to be around at this time of the night, though..."

After _Defense Against the Dark Arts_ class, their professor had held back Terrence, Albus and Scorpius to tell them they would not have detention that night and he had advised them to go to bed early. If this was not bizarre enough in itself - _what, were they in detention with half of the teaching staff? _\- the boys' reaction had been even more weird: they had been completely dismayed. Terrence, who had dark circles under his eyes that could be used as shopping bags, had claimed he was in top form. Albus had scowled like a punished child. Scorpius had asked if it was his fault, if it was because his father had come to the school, and Mr. Potter had replied something like "no, not at all, _I _am the one sorry for making _you_ keep secrets."

Wendy wanted to ask _what secrets_ they were talking about, but the brackish scene earlier in the hallway was too fresh in her mind and she did not know how to ask without hurting Malfoy. As for her questions about their detention – how they had gotten into troubles, what exactly they were doing every night to be so tired – she had only gotten ridiculous answers.

_"Scorpius bewitched Professor Douglas' chalks so they would play hangman instead of writing runes... Terrence told M. Binns he was dead... Albus was caught bullying some first years of Hufflepuff..."_

_As if._

At dinner, Terrence had fallen asleep, his head in his stew. Scorpius had helped himself with cranberries topped with whipped cream, together with lettuce, fried chicken _and_ hot pepper, and had not flinched while eating the absolutely nasty mix. Albus had not eaten at all, dozed the whole time and pretended he was fine when she had shaken him up. He was totally sleepwalking - had run into a pillar in the study room and had not even cracked open an eye. Obviously, none of the three had remembered to do their homework when coming back to the dormitories and Wendy did not have the heart to tell them.

Fetloack could wait long, his idol was not likely to show up at this late hour.

_Not that she__ didn't want him to..._

_Things were always__ so much more interesting when the boys were around..._

_"Okay,__ that's not quite the truth."_

She scribbled down some more, then closed the book and put it on a pile. She stretched her arms above her head, wrapped her legs around the feet of the chair and swung it a little.

_Five past Midnight._

The fire was dying quietly in the fireplace of the Gryffindor common room. The sizzling embers were glowing. A chess game had been left on a round table. Sandie Morgensten's needles were knitting a pink scarf. The few characters still awake in the paintings were travelling from one frame to another, whispering. Fabius Macmillan's cat was giving himself a good wash, sitting on top of the sofa.

Wendy unclipped the pin holding her long chestnut hair coiled into a high bun at the top of her head, untangled her mane with her fingers and rubbed her sore forehead.

\- "Come on, cheer up!" she exclaimed aloud. "Refueling is on its way! You can do it!"

_Or not._

_Why__ was Pernickety Pal so picky? Terrence also obtained interesting results, although he never quite followed the recipes..._

Fetloack reappeared in a tinkling of silverware. He was holding a tray on which were cups, a teapot filled to the brim with hot bergamot tea, an enormous pile of buttered toasts and several cans of tinned sardines.

\- "You're a darling!" Wendy cooed, getting up.

\- "Where's the young master?" asked the elf, his hands firmly holding back the tray she was trying to take away.

\- "Er... he..."

She was about to say "he went back to bed," when the protuberant eyes of the elf lit up.

\- "Fetloack has brought you a snack, Mr. Albus Potter!" he trumpeted, loud enough to wake up both dormitories.

\- "Shh!" Wendy gasped, her face burning hot.

And she blushed even more when the teenager who was coming down the spiral staircases giggled.

_"Great.__ Caught right in the act, manipulating the ancestral servants of the castle._

_And on top of all, my hair's dirty__."_

She pulled the fluffy hood of her sweater over her head, forgetting that two rabbit ears were sewn on it.

\- "Thank you, Fetloack, that's so nice of you", Albus said, stifling a yawn. "Whaah, where did you get all that? I'm soooo famished. And _sardines_ – wicked!"

The elf poofed up.

\- "Fetloack knows", he said proudly. "Fetloack saw the other day, how much the Great One likes fish."

The boy smiled, but he cast an anxious glance towards Wendy who was setting the tray on a small table by the fireplace. She probably hadn't heard.

\- "Thank you", he repeated. "Uh... who else saw… _him_, besides you?" he finished in a whisper.

The elf tugged at his ear, scrunching up his nose as if it helped him think.

\- "Oh." He counted on his slender fingers and enumerated in a shrill voice: "Fetloack, Kindoy, Tinky, Cinnamonel and Edgar, I reckon, sir. And a wizard with a hat that smelt of onion."

\- "The _hat_ smelt of onion?" Wendy chortled, unable to stop herself.

_Fatigue__, no doubt._

Albus did not seem to find it funny. She bit into a slice of buttered bread and focused on appeasing her hunger.

\- "Can... can I ask you for another favor, Fetloack?" was muttering Albus on the other side of the sofa, near the bewitched knitting needles.

The creature positively beamed.

\- "What can Fetloack do for the young master?"

\- "Could you go tell my Uncle Charlie about the wizard you saw? You know, the new teacher. The one with red hair..."

\- "Ha, the drago..."

Albus sneezed so loud that Fabius Macmillan's cat jumped and nearly fell off the sofa.

\- "That's right, him! Th-thank you, Fetloack. You're the best."

The elf bowed, radiant, and disappeared in an instant.

\- "Did you catch a cold?" Wendy asked, her mouth full. She helped herself with tea. She was kneeling on the thick crimson carpet.

The boy looked puzzled for a moment, then he sat in the armchair on the left of the fireplace, shaking his head.

\- "No, I... I had something in my throat, that's all."

He looked at the clock on the other side of the room.

\- "What are you doing up so late?"

\- "Homework. What about _you_?" retorted the girl, handing him a cup filled with hot sweet tea.

\- "I was so hungry it woke me up."

Wendy opened a can of tinned sardines. The sound of the metal lid and the smell that spread in the room immediately drew over Fabius Macmillan's cat. She came to rub against the table, purring loudly.

\- "Shoo, kitty", protested Wendy who had to fish up the sardines while holding the can higher than her head.

Albus took a buttered toast and stuffed it in his mouth.

\- "How did you manage to get a snack at this hour?" he asked, amused by the long rabbit ears dancing on top of the girl's hood.

\- "I tricked Fetloack into thinking you were coming..." she confessed with an apologetic grimace.

The boy laughed. He leaned over, grabbed a piece of sardine and waved it out of reach for the cat that was meowing and kneading his knees.

\- "One... two... three... four... no, not yet... five... six..."

\- "You're so _mean"_, Wendy giggled behind her teacup.

The cat pounced on the armrest and plucked the fish out of his hand with a swift claw. He gulped it down, then sat up, staring with large yellow eyes at Albus who was wiping his hands on one of the embroidered napkins Fetloack had artistically folded on the tray.

\- "Don't look at me like that, you're scary", the boy protested. "No more sardines for you. _Niet__. Nada_. Got it?"

The cat did not move an inch.

Wendy was playing with the tassels of the white woolen boots she was using as slippers.

\- "Al..."

Albus gobbled down a sardine and almost had his face snatched off by the cat.

\- "Yeah?" he replied absently, busy keeping the feral kitty at bay.

\- "You... uh... why did you think the Boggart would turn into James?"

She closed her eyes under the rabbit hood.

She had so many questions, she did not know where to start.

_Stupid questions, just to keep the chat going on._

_Legitimate questions of a concerned classmate._

_Questions she did not dare asking because she was, after all, only a Muggle-born girl, who should have never believed she had the right to be close to the son of a war hero of the wizarding world..._

_Why _this_ question? She should have asked _why_ James and Lily did not believe in the graphorn story or _if_ he knew what kind of pain had made him fall from his broomstick. Or even if he had an idea of _how_ Charlie Weasley had learned Terrence and Scorpius' names _before_ he saw them in class._

_Or…_

Only hearing the discrete crackling of the embers in the fireplace, she opened her eyes.

Albus had gotten rid of the cat and was checking his fingernails. His eyes were downcast, hidden under his black mop of hair.

\- "Because James... when we were little, James was always telling me I was not from the same family and... well, you know, nobody looks _that much_ like his father. James said I was adopted, that someone had bewitched me so I would have this face instead of..."

He bit his lips, shrugged.

He was trying to keep a light tone, but his bravado was even sadder to listen to.

\- "And I... well, I believed him. I was little. James was so... so interesting. All the grown-ups adored him and were saying all the time that he was the perfect combo of our parents. Then Lily was born and she was... so cute and so clever. And I... I was only the boy people were always staring at: "_Oh. My. God. Harry. He. Looks. Just. Like. You._" As if that was not normal - or scary."

He looked up a bit and his green eyes smiled bravely at Wendy.

\- "Daft, isn't it? But you know, I'm not as strong as my mother or wise like my father. So I believed what James was saying and I tried to be like him. And he, he kept saying he did not want me to copy him, that we were not _the same_... and sometimes, he even said someday people like the Dursleys would come and take me."

\- "The Dursleys?" repeated Wendy in a stifled voice.

Albus shrugged again, as if to get rid of a cold draft.

\- "The muggle family who raised my father. His uncle and aunt, on my grandmother's side. They were horrible."

She nodded.

\- "We... we don't have to talk about that, if you don't want to", she muttered.

_"Too late, silly."_

She wanted to slap herself, and yet... Albus smiled and his big green eyes locked with hers with no resentment.

\- "No it's okay. I never told anyone, but… I must do so if I want to improve. I guess it's part of the training..."

His choice of words was a little bizarre, but it was the middle of the night, so Wendy did not pay much attention to it.

\- "Well, long story short, I thought James was right and by the time I had grown up enough to realize he was telling rubbish half of the time, I was convinced I would never be quite as cool as him anyway, and that one day he would blame me for it. _In front of everybody."_

He winced.

\- "A boggart shows your most secret fears, even the most ridiculous. It seemed – _logical_ to me..."

He grinned apologetically and leaned to grab another sardine to hide his embarrassment.

Wendy took a sip of her tea. It was cold, now.

_Suddenly nothing else mattered. She felt like if she was wearing her Quidditch robes and was invincible._

She set the cup on the table and clenched her fists on her cotton pajama.

\- "James is _wrong"_, she uttered slowly.

\- "Hmm?"

Albus looked at her, a bit surprised by the seriousness in her voice.

She raised her head and stared at him – she looked a little haggard.

\- "I think you're someone _amazing"_, she said passionately. "I'm really _glad_ you're in my House and that I'm a witch at Hogwarts with you."

Her cheeks were turning a bright hue of pink, her breathing had accelerated and her shoulders ached.

_Why was it a thousand times more difficult than fighting Bludgers?_

Her words burst out randomly, as if they were running away from the supernova imploding inside her chest.

\- "Don't you think you're not as good as James. You are who _you_ are and that's _enough_. It's you whom... whom I..."

She was pretty sure smoke was coming out of her ears. Fortunately, her head was hidden under the fluffy rabbit hood.

_"Shut up, Wendy. Shut up - now."_

But her brain must have been disconnected. Her mind was probably loaded with the Wrackspurts Professor Lovegood had warned them about.

\- "I ... I... l-l-love ... you..."

If only her legs had not turned into squid mousse, she would have been able to get up and to flee to the girls' dormitory. And lived for the rest of her school years under a thick black cape.

_A miracle._

_Terrence._

_Fetloack._

_Something._

_Being stupefied must have this effect on you._

_Feeling like a prisoner in your own b... OH._

Her eyes widened and her eyelashes fluttered wildly, but the rest of her body did not move at all, while Albus slid from his chair, his green eyes looking at her intently.

_He was close. He was coming closer. He was - oh - too close..._

Wendy tried to swallow but she could not.

She was blinking and there was no way around it because Albus' nose almost touched hers.

She shivered when he put a hand on her shoulder and pushed back the hood with rabbit ears – very, very slowly.

\- "Wendy..." he whispered.

His black hair brushed against the girl's forehead. His long eyelashes touched her cheek when he lowered his eyelids. She felt his soft breath on her skin, a scent of soap and of boy's shampoo...

\- "You can't, Wendy..."

His voice was almost inaudible. She closed her eyes, breathed in the bittersweet smell of sardines, the crisp perfume of toast.

\- "You don't know what I am..."

The embers were swishing down in the fireplace, diffusing a warm and benevolent light on the crimson carpet, and the silence in the Gryffindor common room was underlined by the heart beats of the clock. There was a candle like a star in the dark, books and scrolls left on a table, next to a bottle of ink, and a cat was playing with a quill on the polished wooden floor.

Albus' lips tasted like butter and were kissing Wendy.

_"I love you._

_No matter__ what you say, what you did, what you are, what you will become._

_I love you."_

The words were shimmering in her head, like an oath, like fireworks of overwhelming joy, of trusting shyness and fierce courage.

And when the sweetness on her mouth vanished, she opened her eyes to say them aloud.

A whirl of golden dust was dancing before her, dazzling. She closed her eyes and opened them again when she felt something touch the tip of her nose.

Her smile froze.

Two golden split green eyes were looking at her intensely. What had touched her nose was a warm black leather _muzzle_.

* * *

**_TBC_**

* * *

Next chapters:

_**WINGS, **_followed closely (hopefully) by_** MOON RABBIT  
**_

_**I had to cut this part in three so you wouldn't wait too long...**_

_**More fluff, more fun. Wendy gets the biggest scare of her life - and so does Scorpius. Terrence proves once more he's the cleverest of them all and Lily... well, Lily will also have a big surprise.^^**_

_**Enjoy, 'coz there're only two chapters left before the world turns upside down and everything changes for our young heroes...**_


	16. A reason to fly

**A REASON TO FLY**

* * *

Wendy let out a frightened squeak and backed off, stumbling on the small table.

The dragon leaped backward too, folding his ears.

\- "A-A... Al?" stammered the girl.

The creature looked around. He swept his spade-shaped tail – knocked off a shelf of books that fell noiselessly on the thick carpet - then stretched its neck, sniffing something with interest. Fabius Macmillan's cat was staring at it, hair bristling and tail erect. A log collapsed in the fireplace and a cloud of ashes billowed over the embers.

\- "S-so tha-a-at's wha-a-at y-y-you w-we-e-ere hi-ding…"

Terrence and Scorpius giggling stupidly. Whispers and secrets. The anxiety showing on the director's face. The new professor of _Care of Magical Creatures_ who could not give a single class without talking about saurians... Harry Potter coming to Hogwarts. Inpredictable mood swings and detention for a week given to the most disciplined student of Hogwarts. And that last sentence...

She felt like crying.

\- "Al? Is it _you_ ? You're a... a..."

The dragon had finally decided that the girl who was pointing her finger at him was not dangerous. He was now crawling towards the sardines, wiggling his black fur rump, anticipation ruffling his wings.

Wendy let go of a strangled laughter.

\- "It's you. It's really you…"

Tears were streaming down her cheeks and she did not even know why.

_"You, someone _ordinary_? Surely not…_

_So that's why your father tried to kill you?_

_I don't care, Al, it doesn't matter..."_

She gathered her slightly trembling legs and got up. The dragon had dropped a can of tinned sardines and was warbling in frustration, not able to open it. He froze a few seconds when he felt the girl coming to him, then snorted as if it did not matter, probing his metal caparisoned booty.

Wendy leaned over slowly, offering her hand.

It was not more complicated than any of the classes she had attended for four years. They were asked all the time to touch things that might bite, to approach things that might blow up, to trust mad reasonings.

_It _was_ Albus._

_Looking just a bit different._

_And Al__ never would have hurt her. Never EVER._

The dragon's muzzle, warm and soft as satin, touched her palm. She ran her fingers through the thick black fur, slipped her hand behind a fluffy ear.

\- "Hey..." she whispered.

The nose wrinkled and the animal blinked happy big green eyes.

\- "I smell of sardines, isn't it?" Wendy chuckled. She picked up the can and rolled the opening. "Here, enjoy. D'you want a toast with it? A cuppa?"

The dragon was slurping up the fish scraps greedily and his throat was emitting a sort of thanking-purr.

_"Terrence__, I'm so going to kill you. Why did not you tell me?_

_How long__, Al?_

_Since your fall during__ Quidditch workouts? Since birth?_

_And _why_?_

_Are you some sort of__ an animagus?"_

The dragon raised his head, licking his lips and stared at her hopefully, all ears pointing up, obviously waiting for her to open another can.

She giggled.

"_Nope__. Not an animagus. You're not really conscious, are you? Please don't tell me _this_ is__ your true personality!"_

Something fell on the floor above with a thud, and both their gazes went to the ceiling before sharing the same interrogative glance.

\- "We can't stay here", Wendy muttered. "Turn back into a human before someone comes down!"

In response, the dragon crept towards the stairs crooning curiously.

\- "Al!" hissed the girl rushing behind him. "Not that way, you nutter! _What_ are you doing? Change back, hurry!"

The dragon chewed his gums, golden split green eyes puzzled. He nuzzled her lightly and she nearly lost her balance.

There really was someone awake upstairs. They could hear steps cracking on the old wooden floor.

\- "Come oooon", she squeaked, pleading.

She looked around, nibbling her thumbnail.

_The__ outlet passage? Letting a dragon roam free in Hogwarts' hallways?_

_Hiding behind__ the tapestries?_

_Crawling up in the fireplace__? Nonsense._

The dragon hustled her, trotting towards the back of the room, and she followed him, literally pulling on her hair.

\- "Al, for mud sake ... why did not you show me the user manual if _you__ didn't know_ how to morph back? How am I supposed to go get your dad and tell him we were _snogging_ when you suddenly turned _into a dragon_? When you're back to a human again, I'm so going to kill you..."

She paused, her eyes on the window.

\- "Ah."

She came closer, opened it, glanced outside - the rocks far below on the shores of the Black Lake, the stars high above the water, the moon sinking into a pale mist on the horizon between the two...

\- "Tell me you're _not_ thinking of jumping out."

The dragon clearly gave a wry shrug.

\- "Al, have you lost your mind?"

She stepped back and heard the door open at the top of the spiral staircase.

_Ohnonononono…_

Black wings unfurled at her side and the spade-shaped tail swept from left to right as if to test its balance.

\- "_No"_, Wendy uttered as firmly as she could.

Next thing she knew, the dragon was holding her by her bunny ears hoody and was diving to the lake.

* * *

oOoOoOo

* * *

Once his rival's throat was slayed, the huge dragon covered with shining scales, stood waving his long powerful neck, fangs dripping with blood. His empty eyes looking like slits had a cruel red glow and he opened his mouth, spilling a torrent of flames that consumed the trees.

Terrence jerked awake, gasping for air, his arms crossed in front of his face to protect him from the heat.

_Ah__. He was in his dorm at Hogwarts._

The plain covered with ashes, the blackened trees and the monstrous creature had disappeared.

_So had the__ fur dragon with gaping wounds._

Terrence forced himself to breathe in and out slowly. His heart was pounding in his chest. Sweat was dripping down his face. The small of his back and the inside of his palms were clammy.

_Everything was quiet__. He was alive._

He kicked off the covers and got up to check on Albus.

\- "Terrence?"

_Great__, now Scorpius was awake too._

Craig Finnigan was snoring at full throttle, one foot outside the quilt, the last issue of _Blue Laces_ raising and falling regularly on his belly.

Terrence opened the four-poster bed curtains and his bad feeling proved true.

\- "He's gone", he said.

Scorpius probably wanted to jump out of bed, but in the rush he got entangled in his blankets and fell heavily to the floor.

\- "They're going to kill us!" he hissed, getting up, rubbing his elbow with a wince.

Terrence's brain was working at full speed.

\- "Maybe he's just downstairs... still in his Al form…"

\- "Maybe he just got tired of us playing babysitters, and he went to sleep in the common room", Scorpius nodded, hopeful. "You never should have suggested putting detection spells around his bed. Charlie said that besides being under a really strong emotion, he would not morph randomly. Except if he had a nightmare..."

He looked at Terrence from head to toes and something suddenly clicked in his brain.

\- "Let's go check!"

They grabbed their wands and ran downstairs, but it was too late.

The window was open and the night breeze was playing in the scarlet curtains.

There was nobody in the room, except for Fabius Macmillan's cat which looked like she had seen the devil.

Terrence rushed to the window.

\- "He _jumped_? Don't tell me he jumped, HE DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO FLY!" Scorpius stuttered on his heels.

He leaned out the window at the risk of falling outside, desperately scanning the cliffs beaten by the black waves.

\- "Al!"

Terrence slammed his shoulder.

\- "Don't be so noisy", he said with a strange grin.

Scorpius pulled away and shot him a fulminating glance.

\- "What's if he's DEAD?" he snarled. "We should go look for him, he might be hurt or lost somewhere, I can't see him-"

\- "Do you remember what Charlie told us about dragons' first flight?" Terrence cut in.

_Oh yes,__ Scorpius remembered._

Like every moment of those nights, it was vivid in his memory.

Albus was making new progress from hour to hour. He had quickly managed to master morphing from human to dragon (he was not as good at doing the opposite: the dragon loved to frolic and he proved to be much more mischevious and adventurous than his alter ego).

While doing his _Transfiguration _homework, Terrence had found a paragraph explaining how Animagi were managing to turn back into humans _with their clothes still on_ and Mrs McGonagall had been kind enough to teach Albus to do that. She had finished her lesson with a stern warning to the two other boys who were not ready to forget their promise.

Then, they had clearly seen the few times when the two minds were communicating. The dragon suddenly became very docile, as if he understood the essence of their words, not just the ton of their voices. He started to change back into Albus much more easily too. Charlie Weasley was exulting and the boys believed _he_ would be the one to start flying soon. Harry Potter was torn between guilt and wonder. He never said much and only stepped in when he thought his son was too exhausted to keep on training.

Finally, just the day before, they had dealt with the first blasts of flames. The dragon had first seemed about to regurgitate a piece of fish and a blue spark had cracked under his glottis. A moment later, Terrence and Scorpius, who were standing a little too close, had almost lost their eyebrows. After that, the so-called-detention-training-cram-schooling had turned into a game and, for the first time since he had discovered what was hidden inside him, Albus had looked happy and carefree.

Forgetting that Hogsmeade was not that far away and the castle towers stood well above the Forbidden Forest, Charlie and Harry had allowed them to flare up everything that could be burned in the area, then had gathered them in the clearing where the Thestrals were usually grazing - when the dragon was not nearby.

\- "When will I fly?" Albus had asked shyly.

There was something shining in his eyes – something scared and excited at the same time.

\- "Yes, boss, come on, tell us!" Terrence had exclaimed. He was sitting cross-legged with his hands on his thighs, just like Charlie who was in front of him. "What do we need to do to trigger it?"

Scorpius had nodded vigorously. He was sitting with his fists clenched on his bent knees. His pale hair was tangled with pine needles and leaves, and his gray eyes were sparkling.

Charlie took the time for a long sip in his wineskin, while Harry was fumbling in the embers with a branch, producing more smoke than light and making them cough. The stars were very high above the trees, shimmering in the vastness of dark blue.

\- "The dragon from before didn't show any ability to fly for a long time", Harry finally said. "It was almost as big as you – I mean, as _he_ is now, but it was content to run and climb all over the place, never using its wings to something other than carrying a little boy. And then one night ... I don't know... well, I'm not sure, maybe that spurt of growth was normal for a dragon..."

\- "It was not", strongly countered Charlie.

His brother-in-law sighed.

\- "Anyway. One night he jumped out the window and took off to the sky. I'm pretty sure he did it because Albus _wanted_ him to fly _so much_. He kept repeating "fly, Toothless, fly."

The plush toy's name was no longer making anyone smirk. In fact, they were beginning to consider calling the dragon Toothless to differentiate him from Albus. The latter did not agree.

_"He has a name. A proper name, a name of his own._

_He'll tell me - someday, when it's time."_

Terrence prudently touched the fatty taffeta bits that covered the blisters on his forehead. He was glad Hannah Abbot had provided them with _several_ first aids kits.

\- "When the mother dragon feels it's time, it takes the cub high above and _drops_ it, Charlie explained with his usual strong and enthusiastic voice. "The baby dragon has no other choice than spreading its wings and fight for survival. It is a beautiful sight to witness when a dragon finally manages to fly up to its mother."

Harry glowered at him.

\- "Don't you dare thinking for one second that I'll let you throw my son off a tower..."

\- "I'd never do that!" the redhead protested, raising his hands in sign of peace - but the boys had the sure feeling he had thought about it, though. "I was just saying that the dragon won't fly unless he has a _good_ _reason_ to do so."

Albus had nodded silently. The flames were glinting in his pensive green eyes and he wasn't listening to Terrence's ravings on about how they could bring the dragon to fly.

Scorpius had found it logical. He was much less confident now that he was convinced Albus had crashed down from the tower and sunk into the lake.

\- "We have to go save him!" he repeated imploringly.

Terrence grabbed him by his collar and pressed his nose on the scrolls and books left on the table. Then he dragged him to the fireplace and pointed at the tray, the overturned cups, the bread crumbs and the remains of sardines on the carpet.

\- "What does this tell you?"

\- "That the house elves gave up on cleaning our common room? I know, I know... Ouch!"

Terrence had given him a flick on the head.

\- "Scorpius Malfoy, thou shalt not career as a detective", he sneered. "Look with _your eyes_. Wendy's homework, two cups of tea, sardines, a mess worthy of a big cat... there's your _good reason_. They must have heard us. And now they're probably somewhere in the stars... "

The other teenager furrowed his dark eyebrows, still rubbing the sore spot under his blond hair.

\- "Why, do you mean... _WHAT_? Albus is _in love_ \- with this _girl_?"

Terrence took off his glasses, pinched the bridge of his nose and heaved a big sigh.

\- "The world is a place crowded with blind dimwits..."

He chuckled and turned back to the window while Scorpius tried to clear something from his throat, as if he had almost choked on his tongue.

_"A good reason__, eh?_

_Welcome to the__ gang, Wendy..."_

In the night sky, the butter-colored moon was swimming in cotton-like clouds.

* * *

**_TBC_**

* * *

_Next chapter_: **MOON RABBIT**


	17. Moon Bunny

**MOON BUNNY**

* * *

First she had screamed as the glistening rocks, the dark water and a horrible death were rushing toward her at lightning speed.

Then she had been cut off, breathless, when her body had done a pirouette in the air, thrown by the dragon, and she had found herself sitting on his back.

_At the last moment._

The night was rushing beneath his strong black wings and they were soaring to the sky in a shattering noise. Her eyes were crying because of the cold, of her fear, of the gusts of winds and maybe also because nothing would be as it had been before.

_A dragon._

_Albus__ Severus Potter was _a dragon_ and__ he had just jumped out the window of their common room, holding her by her bunny-eared hood._

She let out a small moan and hid her face in her hands.

_None of this was__ romantic or even - normal._

She felt like if they were going through a veil of droplets, then the wind subsided and the wings relaxed against her legs. She ventured a look around, in wonder.

The night mist was fraying off around them.

They were high – very, _very high_ – much higher than she had ever been able to go with her broomstick during Quidditch workouts. Hogwarts looked like a toy castle and she could see the entire lake, shimmering in the moonlight, and even the ghosting lights of Hogsmeade beyond the darkness of the Forbidden Forest.

The stars seemed as close as those on the magic ceiling of the Great Hall. There were myriads of them around them and they were rolling like pearls on a large black silk drapery when the dragon took a curve.

\- "Amazing…"

She reached out, her hand almost brushing the sky, then leaned down.

\- "It's so beautiful, Al..." she whispered.

A warm purr rose in the dragon's throat. She could feel it vibrate against her woolen boots. She stroked the satin-like dark fur, bent to wrap the powerful neck in her arms. Her hands could not hug him completely.

\- "I love you... even like _this_..."

Her fear was gone and she had no more questions.

The dragon increased his speed and his body began to crackle with blue and golden sparks that tickled Wendy's cheeks and went all the way to to the tips of his wings.

\- "What... what's happening?" she muttered, straightening up.

There was a tingling at the roots of her hair.

\- "Al? Er... should'nt we go back? Al?"

She patted the dragon's head, bent down to try to see his eyes, but instead of slowing down, he suddenly dived toward the lake and she grabbed two tufts of black hair, holding on to dear life.

The dragon spread his wings and flew over the dark water like a huge fire bird. There was a thunderbolt in the perfectly calm sky and Wendy shut her eyes with a little cry.

When she opened her eyes again, the dragon had doubled in size and sparks were scattering behind him like the tail of a comet. He swung over the waves, touched them with the tip of his wing, sending up a spray of glittering water, then soared again, his powerful body rearing up, his muscles rippling under his skin.

He was probably as big as the Gryffindor common room, now.

\- "Wow", muttered Wendy, aloud as if to make sure she was not dreaming.

She looked at the thick fur in which she could sink her fingers and laughed nervously. She carefully let go of her grip and stretched her arms, taking more and more confidence. They climbed higher and higher in the stars and the crisp wind crept under her pajama pants. She shivered. The round moon was facing them, huge, blurry and pale.

\- "Are we going all the way up to there? Are you taking me to see the bunny?"

She giggled.

She never wanted to go back down to Earth.

_"The bunny is _you_,__ little girl."_

She froze.

The voice was somewhere in her head, with a deep and friendly laughter.

_"Or rather__, young warrior. He's right, you really have no fear!"_

She flinched.

\- "What ... who's there?"

She looked around : clouds gathering under the inky sky studded with stars, the silent moon, Hogwarts down below, like a house from a storybook.

_"I am here, child. With you._

_With him."_

The voice was warm and it sounded a bit like her grandfather's, slow and full of humor. Something clicked in her brain. She laid her palm on the dragon's head.

\- "You can _speak_!?"

Again the deep laughter wrapped her in something like happiness, the smell of caramel, a feeling of safety.

_"This is exactly what said a little boy, a long time ago ..."_

Wendy pushed back in her mind the additional questions piling up on the stack of her unanswered questions and swallowed hard.

There was something more important than everything else.

\- "Is ... can I talk to Albus? Is he… - there, too?"

The dragon crooned like a giant winged kitten and whirled like a swallow in front of the moon.

_"Wendy ..."_

Her heart sank in gratitude.

\- "Al?"

_"I'm here."_

It was him. His voice - a little hesitant, as if seeking her approval.

She did not pause to ponder, passionately hugged the dragon's neck, buried her face in the black fur that smelt of soap and sardines.

\- "I meant it", she whispered. "I meant every word and I will never change my mind. Like that, like before, and no matter what happens next. I love you."

The night breeze ruffled the black hair between the fluffy ears. The moon was hemming them in silver.

_"Thank you."_

Wendy grinned and wiped her runny nose - she could not remember when she had started to cry.

\- "Can you do something mad? Fly like when you're on your broomstick, but it owes to be massive, because you're just so BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIG!

Her voice was carried away by the dive. The dragon swooped down on the lake, ascended to the stars, scattered the mist, descended spiraling towards Hogsmeade, brushed the roofs and chimneys, returned at full speed over the Forbidden Forest, razing the top of the trees, unfurling the banners in the Quidditch pitch, and tacked between the towers of Hogwarts before soaring back to the night.

When he finally slowed down, hovering on the air streams like a shadow in front of the moon, Wendy was out of breath, her hair was tangled and she was completely frozen. She pulled on the bunny-eared hood and snuggled her hands inside her sleeves.

\- "Thank you", she whispered.

She had felt as if he was there, behind her, his arms holding her close to make sure she wouldn't fall, she wouldn't get lost during the wild ride.

The dragon's heart was pounding beneath the ebony leather of his skin and his wings were trembling a little.

_"I love you, Wendy."_

She smiled and nodded.

In the blue universe filled with myriads of stars, they were alone in the world.

_Her, Albus and the dragon._

* * *

oOoOoOo

* * *

Morning was seeping through the large common room windows, bathing in gold and pink the tidy round tables and the neatly stacked books. Fabius Macmillan's cat was sleeping on the sofa. She cracked open an eye and yawned, showing her small sharp teeth, then stood up and stretched her back when she heard the door opening at the top of the spiral staircase.

\- "I'm sure you lost it somewhere else", said Lily Potter's voice.

Alison Corner, who was coming down the stairs, wrinkled her nose.

\- "There's a funny smell, isn't it?"

Lily shrugged.

\- "Nope."

\- "It smells like Moaning Myrtle's toilets", Alison insisted. "Or my uncle Marcy's fish soup."

She walked into the room, sniffling.

Lily yawned, looking deeply bored.

\- "Stop acting like Bert hammersmith's hare when it's on Weasley's products hunt. It won't help you find your bracelet. I'm sure you left it in study. Or on the basement window, next to your cauldron."

Alison leaned down to look under the fringes of a tablecloth, then came to the sofa. Her eyes widened and she froze.

\- "OH. MER. LIN."

\- "What?" asked Lily.

Her friend turned to her : her cheeks had turned a bright pink and her eyes were gleaming.

\- "Lily Potter, come-and-see-this-you-are-not-going-to-believe-in-your-eyes", she cackled.

The young red-haired girl rolled her eyes. She walked to the sofa, leaned over the backrest and gasped.

\- "It's going to be the talk of Hogwarts", giggled Alison.

Lily ran a hand through her hair and sighed. She nibbled her bottom lip, half-amused, half-infuriated.

\- "And my parents are so going to kill him."

The embers had turned to ash in the fireplace. Someone had cleared the tray and cleaned the sardines mess, but the smell of fish still lingered strongly in the carpet.

Wendy was sprawled on the floor, her mouth half open, her long brown hair tangled, still wearing the sweater with bunny ears she had on the day before when the girls had gone to bed. One of her arms was abandoned on the old scarlet carpet and the other was cuddling… Albus, whose head was on the girl's belly. He was snuggled against her, asleep, his black hair more untidy than ever, shirtless and only wearing dark gray pajamas.

They looked so peaceful that Lily almost strangled Alison who was still tittering. She knew she'd better wake them up before a teacher came, but she couldn't bring herself too.

_As if she had unconsciously guessed that it was the morning of the last day of their childhood._

_As if she had known..._

But she did not know, and the next day, her life like theirs would be shaken forever.

* * *

**_TBC_**

* * *

_Next chapter_ : **_The mail that came on April, the 6th_**


	18. The mail that came on April the 6th

**THE MAIL THAT CAME ON APRIL, THE 6th**

* * *

_Dear Hugo,_

_I'm taking the opportunity of our resupplying to send you__ a letter, so that you don't start thinking your old man was already killed in action. It would take more than _them_ to take me down! The weather's rotten, and I must admit this hellish island is the last place I'd go on holidays, but well, food's not too bad and from time to time, I see a seagull basking in the sunlight and it reminds me I promised you we'd do this trip to the Lighthouse of Alexandria – just the two of us, no women. Well, without your sister, I mean. We're still on for this, son, I haven't forgotten. It's just that these dragon riders are nastier than we thought. Tell your uncle Charlie I'll have a little chat with him when I come back (is it true he and Harry are teaching at Hogwarts? Wicked!)_

_The__ escort's about to leave, I need to hurry if I want this letter to go with them. Wish a happy birthday to Al, give a kiss to Rosie for me and try not to get yourself into troubles when you sneak to Hogsmeade (if you get caught by McGonagall, I don't know a thing, is that clear?)_

_Your__ father who loves you,_

_Lieutenant-Colonel__ Ron Weasley of the 24th Brigade of Aurors_

* * *

**Yo, Al!**

**HAPPY BIRTHDAY!**

**Sorry for the poorly written card, I grabbed it in _Diagon Alley_ on my way back from buying stuff for the mission. _Finally_, they're sending me to the battlefield! I'm taking the _Northen__ Express_ at noon, one-way to Islay! No more Floo network surveillances and endless boring guards in the _Department of Mysteries_. I can't wait to fight for real! Wish me luck, and I'll wish you just as much: the giiiiirl! How are things between you two? Did you kiss her yet? Get moving, mate, before someone else takes her.**

**Give five to Terrence. See ya, **

**Teddy.**

**PS: I am assigned to Ron's brigade! Ain't that cool?**

**PPS: Last night, your father's elf made a chocolate cake to die for! All the Aurors who were at HQ stuffed their faces, shame you didn't get a bite!**

**PPPS: Erm, forget the elf. Forget everything. I'm not supposed to tell you anything about HQ or the mission.**

* * *

_Dear__ Rosie,_

_I'll post__ this letter at the next station, so you will receive it probably when I am already in the Hebrides. We won't be able to write to each other for a while, since communication lines are very limited there, but I will think of you both every day._

_Honey,__ I know you're worried a lot, but you shouldn't believe everything the _Daily Prophet_ says or the rumors in Hogwarts. Everything will be alright. You trust me, don't you? Be strong and if you are worried too much, go talk with Neville._

_I don't__ want you to blame yourself for our divorce. Your father and I are grown-ups and our choices are ours. I wish more than anything that you wouldn't have overheard our last argument and those words that went too far. Sometimes when angry, people say the stupidest things – it's the case for your father, but it's also true for me and I am ashamed of it. Anyway, this situation is neither your fault nor your brother's._

_Don't__ grow up too fast, sweetie. You'll have plenty of time to be an adult. Have fun, spend time with your friends, buy other things than books, go to _Honeydukes_ (you will find everything you need in the small bag) and don't forget to share your loot with Hugo. Give him a big hug for me._

_Mum who__ loves you._

* * *

Dear Terrence,

The owl came straight to us, this time - HOORAY! I think Ms. Plummet would have had a stroke if it had again knocked at her window. I never saw a bird with so little sense of direction...

Mum loved the _Bertie__ Bott's Beans_ and demands to know why you waited - I quote - "so long to share with us the treats of the wizarding world". (I didn't remind her that those were the ones you had us try during the Christmas holidays your first year and that she puked all night because of them at the time.)

I signed the contract this morning and we will go visit an agency tomorrow afternoon to put the house for rent. I know we already had this discussion and that you feel able to live alone for eight months, but Mum and I still think we would be really bad parents to leave you in England for such a long time when you're only fourteen! Now, this is our new offer: you finish the school year at Hogwarts, then Albus and you come to New Zealand for the month of July if his parents agree. Otherwise Mum will stay with you two in Oxford while I'll go ahead with the team to start the filming. That way, your summer won't be too bad.

Terrence, I know how much you love your studies at Hogwarts, but I think it's time you start to consider what you will do later. It's going to be a good experience for you to travel, to see other things - other people. Surely there is a very good school of witchcraft in New Zealand, and if there are none, why not trying a normal college? I think it'd be a good idea. You have tremendous capacities and you could do extraordinary things in our world too, without the need to confine yourself to magic...

Mum thinks I've written enough and suggests we talk about this together another time. Can you ask Professor Longbottom when he'd be free to meet me? I have to go to London this weekend, but I'll have some time next week. Monday or Wednesday, whatever suits him. Of course, he'll pick the place. I don't know if it is easier for him to leave the school or for me to come to Hogwarts...

Terrence, making choices following only our feelings is not acting like an adult. And not considering ALL possibilities is behaving like a child. Your future is not one more experience to try out, it is something you have to build. Your mother and I know you will take the right decision.

With love,

Dad.

* * *

_HARRY POTTER!_

_HOW COULD YOU MAKE__ MY LITTLE GINNY **CRY** FOR **THREE**** DAYS**? DON'T YOU DARE THINK TWENTY YEARS OF MARRIAGE ALLOW A MAN TO SLACK! **HOW** CAN YOU LET THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY OF WIZARDS GOSSIP ABOUT YOU CASTING AN **UNFORGIVABLE CURSE** AT YOUR OWN SON! I CAN'T BELIEVE WE HEAR THINGS SO **RIDICULOUS **NOWADAYS! AND WHAT'S WITH GOING TO TEACH AT HOGWARTS? HAVE CHARLIE AND YOU COMPLETELY **LOST** YOUR MINDS? I REALLY DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH THIS FAMILY! FIRST RON AND HERMIONE, NOW YOU! DID YOU LOT PLOT TO GIVE ME WHITE HAIR BEFORE MY TIME?_

_I hope my__ grandchildren are fine. How is James' cold? Hogwarts must be charming in this season. DON'T TEACH THEM STUDENTS DANGEROUS THINGS._

_YOUR MOTHER-IN-LAW_

_MOLLY__ WEASLEY_

* * *

Dear Harry,

Sorry for the howler, I hope you were able to open it someplace safe...

I think Molly forgot to send the card because she was in shock (but I'm sure you had a good reason – and Ginny will come round eventually) so give our best birthday wishes to Albus: tell him the new car has been delivered and I count on him and his muggle-born friend to help me work on it this summer!

Arthur.

* * *

_My kitty cat,_

_No,__ no blushing. You're not that old yet, I can still call you like this when we're in private (I don't see why you'd go read this letter to your friends and if James does it for you, you can tell him that a howler from his grandmother would be a blessing compared to what I have in store for him)._

_I wish you a__ wonderful birthday. I know your friends have smuggled in tons of chocolate cakes and butterbeer to celebrate in the Gryffindor common room in all honors (and in compliance with the rules of Hogwarts, needless to say) so don't be too serious, try to see how much people love you and enjoy my birthday gift!_

_The__ "Stars Sweeper 6005"! I would have dreamt to ride it when I was your age (except it didn't exist yet). I didn't open the packaging, even though I really wanted to try it, so I hope you let me ride a bit this summer! No, just kidding. Your mother's too old to do stunts on a broomstick. Although... well, I'll stop my nonsense right here._

_I sent__ the broomstick at the beginning of the week so Neville would have time to check it before the next game, but this letter is only leaving now... after all these events._

_Albus__ Severus Potter, I want you to remember that whatever happens, your father and I will protect you and will love you forever. I suppose by now your dad has explained what happened when you were little. We have not done talking, but I'm sure of one thing: your father would never hurt you._

_He's not__ very good at choosing what secrets to keep to himself and he tends to want to save the world always taking the most dangerous path, but he would give his life for you. So would I._

_I don't know__ what's going to happen next, and I dread the tangled skeins of the ministry, their twisted ideas, their dusty old spirits, but I want to believe that we still have friends, that we will not be abandoned. Kingsley Shacklebolt has yet to say his last word and your father is, after all, the favorite candidate for Minister of Magic._

_Everything will be fine__, Al. Don't worry. Don't listen to rumors, it's useless. Do your homework, play Quidditch, keep hanging out with Terrence and Scorpius... and try to be a little less obvious with Wendy (and don't you dare going over the limits, young man! Or you'll have to deal with me...). Have fun, treasure the time you're spending in Hogwarts. You'll have plenty of time to be an adult later..._

_Your Mum who__ loves you very, very, very much._

_PS:__ give Lily a kiss for me – she's not the one who sold you about Wendy - and tell your _Defense Against the Dark Arts_ teacher that if his idea of "place of remembrance" for your fifteenth birthday was the landing place of a portkey, he'd better find SOMEWHERE ELSE before Sunday morning if he wants me to forgive him in the next twenty years!)_

* * *

Dear Wendy,

Would you please stop sending mail by owl? These wild creatures are dirtying our facade and they scare your little brothers when they scratch at the window with their talons. I really do not understand _why_ you cannot make the effort to put your letters in a proper envelope and send it by the post, like a sensible person.

I must say I was extremely disappointed by the lack of enthusiasm you showed at the idea of our spending summer in the Caribbean. It is extremely rare that your father has free time during the holidays and the whole family must be present. We will leave as soon as you get home and I hope you will put on a cheerful and pleasant attitude. You do not want to cause trouble to your father, do you?

Another thing that gives me great concern: your letter was not only full of crossings-out and grammar mistakes, which is unacceptable for a young lady of your education, but the name "Albus" was repeated with indecent frequency. Do not let yourself wander thinking you could have any relationship with a boy from _that_ world. It is bad enough that your father suffers you to do your studies in this obscure school. Moreover, I refuse to hear you speak again of practicing this barbaric sport where you hit _balls_ \- God in Heavens.

I will not send you what you asked for. For one, I do not find suitable of you to offer this boy a birthday gift (and do not try to make me believe it was not for him, that was clearly a jewel carved to be worn by a man) and secondly, I do not see how _an owl_ could carry a package of this value.

Your brothers made drawings for you. I hope this awful volatile will not have ruined them.

Are your grades better? Do not forget that whatever your school is, you owe it to yourself to honor your name. Try not to gain weight, your dress for the June reception is ready. Do not wear these horrible piercings, you are not a hooligan.

Your father does not have time to write, he is working, but he sends his love.

Kind regards,

Mother.

* * *

**_Dear__ young master Albus,_**

**_Kreacher__ wishes Happy Birthday to the young master and may he be healthy._**

**_Kreacher__ made a cake for the young master and all those greedy Aurors ate it whole when Kreacher went to get candles._**

**_Kreacher__ is too old, he could not stop them in time. He will make another cake and give it to Master Harry when he returns._**

**_Kreacher__ would like to see the young master, but he knows he must not go to Hogwarts. Dobby told Kreacher what the school elves say about the Great One who appeared and Kreacher is very concerned._**

**_May Merlin__ protect the young master._**

**_Kreacher__, servant of the very noble and very old House of Black._**

* * *

Gin,

The snoops are linking the erratic readings of the Trace of your son Albus and the dragon spotted last night in the skies of Hogsmeade.

I don't know what will happen, but it smells fishy. The ministry is desperate enough for the quillpushers to decide sending a kid to the battlefield...

I'll let you know but I beg you, be careful!

Tanya

* * *

_Dear__ Mr James Sirius Potter, _

_Dear Miss Lily Luna Potter,_

_We have received__ word that your younger brother, Albus Severus Potter, currently enrolled at _Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_ in 4th year__ might actually be a magical creature category__ XXXX, potentially XXXXX, and that his identity is be a forgery of which your parents, Ginevra Molly Weasley and Harry James Potter are guilty. _As a_ result, we inform you that your presence is required at a preliminary hearing to be held at the Ministry of Magic on April the 17th at 11:00, to determine the nature of your younger brother as well as the liability engaged by your parents in this situation._

_Hoping this one finds you__ in good health, please accept, dear Mr. &amp; Miss Potter, the expression of my highest consideration._

_Lazarus__ Flamcqush_

_Department of__ Magical Law Enforcement_

_Ministry of Magic_

* * *

**MISSION ORDER**

**543210**

**Colonel Harry James Potter**

**You will report tomorrow, on Sunday, April the 7th, at the camp of Islay at 1:30 PM and you will relieve from his duty Colonel Maximilian Rottweiller, charged of the territorial defense in the Hebrides. Your mission is to make Bercelak MacFusty prisoner and to end to the raids conducted by the dragon riders in air, on land and at sea.**

**Fifteen brigades of Aurors will be under your orders.**

**Peaceful negotiations having failed, Hermione Jean Granger-Weasley, director of the _Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures_, will draft a final and complete surrender treaty addressed the island agitators and assist you upon its signature and its implementation.**

_**For application.**_

_**Major General Sebastian Nash**_

**Auror Office**

**Ministry of Magic**

* * *

_Dear__ Mr. Weasley,_

_The__ Ministry of Magic has been aware of the presence of a Magical Creature Category XXXXX in the field of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft &amp; Wizardry. A wild animal of this size cannot be tolerated any longer in the vicinity of civilians._

_The breeding of__ dragons being banned since 1709, disciplinary actions will be proposed to you in the months to come and you will have to justify the introduction of such a danger on the territory protected by the Ministry of Magic._

_However__, since the country is currently subject to the bestial threat of dragons attacks, you are urged to join the ranks of our armed established in the Hebrides._

_You will accompany__ Colonel Harry Potter and his son Albus Severus Potter - whose exact nature will be determined at a future hearing - to the camp of Islay where you will put your strengths and knowledge in service of the nation._

_All action in__ any other sense or escape attempt on your part or that of the dragon would be futile. Our magical brigades were ordered to open fire on you or the hybrid child at the first sign of insurrection._

_Hoping this one finds you__ in good health, please accept, dear Mr. Weasley, the expression of my highest consideration._

_Ariadne__ Swiftpen_

_ASF__ Special Brigade_

_Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures_

_Ministry of Magic_

* * *

**_TBC_**

* * *

_Next chapter: **A LITTLE GIRL WITH A BLUE RIBBON**_


	19. A Little Girl With A Blue Ribbon

**A LITTLE GIRL WITH A BLUE RIBBON**

* * *

The locomotive's thick white smoke was blurring the station platform in a haze pierced by the bright sunlight.

\- "All aboard, all aboard!" was shouting someone impatiently in the hubbub of children's and adults' voices.

A little girl was holding the hand of a very tall man who was carrying an brand-new leather suitcase on his shoulder.

A big blue ribbon held back her long brown curls. She was wearing a periwinkle organza dress with a round collar, lace mittens, pristine girly socks and black ballerina shoes with a silver flower on the buckle.

\- "It's time to leave", she said solemnly.

The man nodded. A horrible scar went from his left ear to across his blotchy shaved skull and strangely contrasted with the elegance of his tweed suit.

He took out of his pocket a neat Kraft bag and a thermos, and gave them to the child.

\- "Here's your lunch. The cook made your favorite sandwich - bacon and marmite - and Nana put soy milk in your tea. I'll load your luggage in the train. Do you have your ticket?"

The little girl put the bag and the thermos in her small backpack and showed him the cardboard pinned to the front of her dress.

\- "Yes, I do", she said. "Thank you, Barrie."

While he was gone, she quietly waited on the platform, watching the other children and their parents who were saying their goodbyes in the racket of trolleys, the hissing of the locomotive and the squawking of the caged pets.

A few steps from her, a tall red-haired man kissed another girl on the forehead and stepped back, putting his hand on the shoulder of a nine year old boy who looked a lot like him.

\- "Bag? Jumper?" checked the lady with bushy brown hair who was standing by them. "Sure you didn't forget anything?"

She blinked back some tears, then hugged the girl impetuously.

\- "I'm going to miss you!"

Another family came out of the steam, waving their hands: father, mother, two boys who were in the midst of a lively discussion and their sister perched on a trolley.

The little girl with the blue ribbon was startled when a hand touched her shoulder, pulling her out of her thoughts.

\- "Your suitcase's in the first compartment to the left, Miss Wendy", gently said the man with the scarred skull, crouching next to her.

\- "This man has a scar like you", she said, leaning against his shoulder, pointing to the father with tousled black hair who was hoisting aboard the train a huge old trunk, helped by the red-haired, broad-shouldered man. "Do you think he also got it fighting a crocodile?"

The butler chuckled (_he had been sabered__ in Africa when he was a legionnaire, but he preferred to maintain the legend of the battle with a crocodile_).

\- "I doubt it, Miss Wendy. One hardly sees it. It's probably a cat scratch. You need to get in the train, now. It's almost time."

Wendy looked at the clock on the brick wall and sighed. She cast one last envious glance at the lady with bushy brown hair who was dabbing her eyes and grinning at the children looking out the window.

\- "I wish Miss Moira was here..." she said in a tiny voice, pressing her hands against each other. "Or Daddy..."

The man straightened the blue ribbon in her hair.

\- "Monsieur is working in the City, you know he couldn't come. As for Madame, she's very tired since the twins' birth". He paused. "Remember you have to call her _Mother_, now, Miss Wendy."

The little girl nodded.

\- "Yes, Barrie", she mumbled.

Her chin was trembling, but she tightened her lips and not a tear ran down her cheek.

\- "Christmas holidays will soon be there", said the butler, lifting her in his arms and placing her on the metal step to the train. "You'll be back in a snap of fingers."

She sniffled, bravely lifting up her chin. He stroked her cheek and smiled again. His skull was bald, but his blond eyebrows compensated for the lack of hair, so bushy they almost hid his encouraging pale blue eyes.

\- "Maybe they have a rugby team in this magical school... you could tryout to be part of it! Madame and Nana won't scold, if someone _else_ has to wash your muddy clothes."

The clock rang, echoing throughout the station and a dozen pigeons flew off. The whistle sounded, shrill.

\- "I'll miss you, Barrie!" cried the girl, throwing her arms around the man's neck one last time.

\- "Goodbye, Miss Wendy. Think of all the wonderful adventures you'll have and all the beautiful things you'll learn... Don't be afraid, you will be fine."

He undid the hug gently, made her step back and closed the heavy steel red door.

The locomotive gave a plaintive hooting and the _Hogwarts Express_ moved off slowly in a thick white cloud.

\- "Goodbye ! Goodbye !" shouted joyful voices everywhere, as lots of hands were waving on the station platform.

Wendy fought against the latch but never managed to open the window. With a stifled sob, she pressed her face against the glass.

She had time to see the tall figure of the butler, whose massive shoulders and bald head topped off the crowd, then the train rushed noisily into a tunnel, blowing away the fancy hat of a lady.

Fighting her tears, she sat on the worn out scarlet seat and took off her small backpack. There was a vague smell of vinegar and fried onions in the compartment. The glass was dirty, blackened by smoke to the outside and smudged fingerprints on the inside.

She breathed in deeply and wiped her eyes. She untied the blue ribbon holding back her hair with relief and purposely messed up her curls. She was not very tall and her feet didn't touch the floor. One of her socks had slipped down and there was some dust on her varnished black shoe.

She was feeling a little better.

\- "Can I come in?" asked a friendly voice.

She turned to the door and nodded timidly after some thought.

The blond boy with round glasses who was leaning against the doorframe walked to her, holding out his hand.

\- "Hi", he said with a warm smile. "I'm Terrence. I'm eleven. And you are…?"

She narrowed her eyes but squeezed his ink stained fingers.

\- My name's Wendy Philips. I'm in first year too.

He sat unceremoniously on the seat in front of her, took off his shoes pressing his toes on his heels, and pulled up his knees.

\- "We're going to Hogwarts", he chirped delightedly, as if he could not suppress his excitement. "We're going to do _magic_! It's not a dream, it's _for real_!"

There was a funny quiff on his head, like an antenna.

Wendy smiled despite herself.

\- "Ah", the boy said happily, as if he had been waiting for this all along.

He hummed, looked at the brand-new leather suitcase in the net then fiddled with something on the window sill.

\- "Are... there _others_ in your family? _Wizards_?" asked the little girl carefully, her hands pressed against each other in the fold of her dress.

Terrence turned back to her.

\- "Nope", he said cheerfully. "I'm the first one! Muggle-born pure bred! My parents had a bit of shock, but I think they're quite proud now! What about you? Do you have siblings at Hogwarts?"

She slowly shook her head.

\- "I'm an only child…"

Something a bit frightened fluttered in her big gray eyes and she added hastily:

\- "Well, I-I have two little brothers. But I don't know if they're going to go to Hogwarts! They're just babies..."

Terrence nodded, still giving her a funny look, and she huddled against the seat, uncomfortable.

\- "Your dress' pretty", he finally said, before sitting down again and scratching the tip of his sock.

Wendy opened incredulous eyes and scrunched up her nose.

\- "It's a _girlie_ dress", she muttered.

The boy burst out laughing.

\- "And _what_ are you, then? A _Grindylow_?"

\- "What's that?" groaned the little girl, vaguely offended.

\- "A _Grindylow_. It's a creature that can be found in the _Black__ Lake_, the lake surrounding Hogwarts", recited Terrence knowingly. He winked. "I read it in _History of__ Hogwarts_. I read ALL the books they asked us to buy! _Twice_. It's going to be awesome, I can't wait to be there!"

He looked around, stood up and fumbled in his pocket.

\- "Ah, there it is."

Wendy let out a small squeal when she saw the wand.

\- "You're not going to _perform magic_, are you?", she stammered.

Terrence puckered his eyebrows. He thought for a while, then sat back and gently placed his wand at his side on the faded fabric of the seat.

\- "Are you scared?" he asked softly.

His blue eyes looked at her with kindness behind his round glasses. Wendy swallowed hard. She crossed her arms.

\- "No, _not at all"_, she replied dourly.

\- "You didn't want to go to Hogwarts?"

Wendy glanced around desperately but, as there was nobody to help her, she sank deeper against the seat, arching her black eyebrows and tightening her lips.

\- "I don't want to talk to you", she grunted.

Terrence did not smile. He was looking pained, and if her heart had not been pounding so much in fear and anger, she would have felt sorry for him.

\- "Did you at least look at the books? Did they not make you want to know more? What about _Diagon Alley_? It's really cool, once you get used to the strange way they dress. With my parents, we went there several times, and ..."

\- "_Several _times !" Wendy squeaked in astonishment.

The blond boy relaxed upon hearing her voice.

\- "Yes. Once you know how to get to the _Leaky Cauldron_, you just have to go through the gate with a wizard. Or ask the bartender to open up."

\- "I went there only once, to choose my wand", mumbled Wendy. "The man didn't want to sell one to Barrie, he said I had to come myself."

Terrence's eyes widened.

\- "You didn't do your own shopping for school supplies?"

The little girl shrugged.

\- "Miss Moi... _Mother_ said it wasn't _proper_", she explained in a resigned tone. "She was not very happy when I received my letter from Hogwarts, but Daddy said I would go, so... but I never was allowed to touch my books until now."

She cast an apologetic glance at the boy who was staring at her, flabbergasted.

\- "Is... is Hogwarts so wonderful?" she asked in a small worried voice. "Barrie said I'd be better off there than at _Chelthenham__ Ladies College_ and that no one would say anything if my manners weren't the best... There's no rugby team for young girls in _Chelthenham__ Ladies College_, so I didn't want to go there anyway, but... "

Terrence nibbled his bottom lip. There was something both amused and appalled in his eyes.

\- "Well, there's no rugby team at Hogwarts _either_, actually", he finally said. "But there's _Quidditch_, and it sounds like the best sport ever," he hastily added seeing that the little girl's face was darkening. "In any case, I'm sure you'll like it there. Magic is awesome. And you don't need to know what a _Grindylow_ is, coz' we'll study them only in third or fourth year, so it's okay. Don't you worry. I bet you're going be a great witch!"

He flashed her his most cheerful, most reassuring, warmest grin.

And Wendy gave him a weak smile.

_But a very__ \- very - nice smile._

The door slipped open with a stifled sound.

\- "Can we come in for a while?" asked a boy's voice. "My brother started a _Bertie Bott's Beans_ battle in our compartment and we don't want to end up blind."

\- "Or daubed in paint", stiffly said the girl who was with him.

She was already wearing the school robes and her strawberry hair was tied in a ponytail. There was a huge book under her arm.

Wendy huddled against the window, watching her carefully.

_It was the girl from the__ station, the one with the loving mother._

She sat near the door after giving around a distracted smile, then buried herself in the book.

\- "Hello, I'm Albus", the boy said, plopping on the seat next to Wendy.

He was small and scrawny. Beneath his black mop of hair were shining green eyes with long dark lashes. He seemed a bit shy and was holding a foul smelling bundle of rags.

\- "How's the ferret?" asked Terrence before Wendy could ask any questions. "Spoon, right?"

Albus stared at him, speechless for a few seconds, then his face brightened.

\- "Oh ! You're the boy from the pet shop..."

He cast a glance around him.

\- "Your owl ...?"

\- "Toughie's in the next compartment", chirped Terrence. "With a boy named Craig Finnigan who really can't shut up."

Wendy looked thoughtfully at the ferret's pinkish nose sticking out of the bundle of rags.

\- "Is it sick?"

\- "Yes", said Albus. "But he's feeling a little better now. Yesterday, he climbed on a shelf in my bedroom and he nibbled a wing of the paper airplane my grandfather gave me for Christmas. Erm. A plane is a…"

\- "I _know_ what a plane is", Wendy cut in, a little annoyed.

\- "Albus comes from a wizard family", Terrence explained cheerfully. "Usually they don't understand when you're talking about Muggle things."

\- "Ah", said the little girl curtly.

And she fell silent, turning to the window, crossing her arms again after hurriedly putting back in her hair the blue ribbon.

The train was travelling through the countryside, now, and the sky had turned gray. Large drops crashed on the window, then began drawing long rills on the glass. A white and fluffy mist was rising over the hills. The boys were chatting in her back, softly, as if not to disturb the girl who was reading.

Wendy wondered if it was also raining in London.

Barrie had gone back home. Maybe he was in the garden under his big khaki umbrella, wearing his Wellies, checking on the old oak...

Miss Moira (_she mentally corrected: "Mother"_) was probably in the Nursery, sitting in the white wicker chair, dressed in the pink silk gown that made her look like a princess. Maybe she was rocking one of oh so cute babes, a tiny fist clenched on one of her long black curls...

Nana would surely bring the baby bottle - the twins were often wailing to be fed - and the little darling would drink greedily, while the music box would play its melancholy song.

A lump swelled in Wendy's throat.

She wished so much to be allowed to hold one of her chubby baby brothers on her lap, but she was always told her hands were too dirty or that it was time for her piano lesson...

She wished her stepmother would kiss her forehead and smile at her as she did over the lace rimmed cradles...

_Maybe when she would be able to do magical things - beautiful things, like those the wand seller had talked about - she would be lo..._

\- "Wendy?"

Startled, she bumped her forehead against Albus' head when she turned too abruptly.

\- "I thought you were asleep", he mumbled sheepishly when she glared at him.

\- "What do you want?" she hissed, tears welling up in her eyes.

Terrence put a hand on her shoulder.

\- "We were wondering if you wanted to play with us", he said, pointing at the scarlet worn out seat on which was scattered a jumble of chocofrog and muggle cards.

\- "My mum taught me a muggle magic trick", chimed in the strawberry-haired girl who had discarded her book on the bench.

Her brown eyes were twinkling merrily. She had freckles and looked like the dandelion pixie from Wendy's fairytales book.

\- "My name's Rosie Weasley", she said. "What's yours? Your dress is pretty, but you didn't need to come wearing your Sunday best. We have to put on our school robes before getting off the train."

Wendy stared at her for a moment. The lump in her throat was so thick and spongy she felt like if she was about to drown.

_Her mum…_

_The lady__ with bushy brown hair who was smiling on the station platform. She had kissed her daughter and gave her some last advices before letting her go. She looked stern, clumsy, loving and caring and just exactly like a _mother_ was supposed to be._

She choked on a sob in the stunned silence of the compartment.

\- "Wendy?" Terrence asked, a little worried.

He did not like at all the despair he was reading in the big stormy eyes of the little girl with a blue ribbon.

Then someone shifted and it was like if a sudden warmth was slowly filling the compartment hammered by the sound of rain.

\- "Hey, can you hold Spoon for a while?" Albus asked, putting in Wendy's arms the bundle of rags.

The little girl looked down.

Spoon squealed weakly, scratching around with his tiny black and white paws.

She touched the warm muzzle with her fingertips, stroked the mangy fur, careful not to press on the skinny bones she felt under the skin.

\- "He looks cozy", Albus said.

Then he sat next to Wendy, so close that their shoulders brushed and that his breath touched the little girl's face when he leaned to look at the ferret.

\- "He's soft", Wendy finally said in a slightly hoarse voice.

She looked up and her gray eyes locked with Albus' green orbs.

Then she smiled.

And Terrence's heart hurt a bit, but he drove the funny feeling away, because Wendy's smile was very pure, very sweet_,__ so very sincere_.

And it was the smile he had wanted to see from the beginning.

He sat down with them and Rosie taught them a card game that made them giggle until the end of the trip. Then Craig Finnigan came in with Toughie who looked a little drunk and time flew really fast until the train slowed down.

It had stopped raining and the night was filled with stars. Hogwarts castle stood on the other side of the lake, beautiful and mysterious.

Wendy slipped her hand in Albus' and Terrence took her other hand, and she jumped out on the station platform with confidence, helped by the two boys.

The nice dress was crumpled up in the corner of the net, in the train compartment, and the blue ribbon had fallen on the old wooden floor.

* * *

oOoOoOo

* * *

Wendy was sitting on Craig Finnigan's bed, her chin resting on her knees, her arms hugging her legs. Her chestnut hair was twisted in a braid on her shoulder and the tiny red carbuncles were shining in the candlelight, at her eyebrow and on her ear.

\- "I'm going", she whispered.

Terrence, who was sitting cross-legged on his own bed, straightened up and pushed his glasses up his nose.

\- "So am I", he muttered in the dark.

So Scorpius stood up and smoothed his trousers, as if he had just waited an hour in silence to hear these words.

\- "In this case, this is what we should do", he said, opening the drawer of his nightstand.

And with a flip of his wand, he unrolled a large parchment on Albus' bed.

* * *

**_TBC_**

* * *

_Next chapter : **ISLAY ISLAND**_


	20. Islay Island

**ISLAY ISLAND**

* * *

Deep blue waves were pummeling the black beach, licking the gray rocks covered with moss. It was not raining and the sun seeping through the whitish clouds blessed the peeled coast with some light.

The wind ruffling the yellow grass was cold and salty.

As if an invisible hand had suddenly tied a knot in it, the landscape suddenly twirled then relaxed, spitting out four figures who rolled into the wet sand.

Then everything was as quiet as before, except for the sound of the rough wind and the shrieks of the seagulls.

Terrence stood up, feeling his nose and cheeks, looking for his glasses that had slipped off. He staggered a few steps, then dropped to his knees, holding his stomach, rocked by violent nauseas.

Behind him, Wendy straightened painfully, white as a sheet, a hand cupping her mouth. She stumbled to the water's edge and threw up too, holding herself to a rock.

\- "I _hate_ apparating..." Scorpius mumbled. He was sprawled on the ground, arms outstretched, his face the same color as his hair.

\- "What an _horrible_ way to travel..." stammered the girl when she was done emptying her stomach. She rinsed his mouth with some clear water remaining in a cleft of the rock.

\- "Do we _have _to get our Apparition license?" Terrence rasped, coming to them in unsteady steps.

Scorpius sat up carefully.

\- "No... well, I suppose we do… I don't know... apparently you get used to it after a few times..."

His eyes fell on the small bony figure remaining motionless, half buried in the black sand.

\- "Hey, you okay?" he asked, reaching out to touch the lean and pinkish shoulder sticking out of the dirty tunic.

Wendy stumbled up to them.

\- "Kreacher, you okay?" she asked worriedly, turning to her the body of the old elf.

\- "Do you think he was too old to apparate with us three at once?" Terrence muttered, also approaching and exchanging a quick glance with Scorpius who frowned more anxiously than annoyingly.

\- "Wake up, we're there", Wendy begged, touching carefully the big flabby ears and the hooked nose.

Terrence knelt beside her and put his hand on the skinny chest of the elf.

\- "He's breathing!" he cried with relief. "He's just passed out."

They shared the same small strangled laughter, which broke off with a gasp when a shadow loomed over them.

\- "What are you doing here, kids?" said a stunned voice. "_How_ did you get here?"

Scorpius kept his eyes obstinately lowered. Wendy buried her head in her shoulders and Terrence clumsily stood up to face the man dressed in a long dark cloak and armed with what seemed to be a long cudgel.

\- "Uh ... we ... well ... it's ... we just came to see a friend", he mumbled, trying to see under the thick hood the hidden features of his interlocutor.

His neck was tingling as he felt inquisitive eyes drilling through him.

\- "A _friend_?" repeated the man whose deep voice was tinged with irony. "On Islay Island?"

\- "Albus", quickly muttered Wendy, still sitting in the sand with the elf in her arms, not looking up. "Albus Potter. He's the one we came to see."

There was a moment of silence, only disturbed by the sound of the rolling waves. Then someone called up from the bare hill, waving with both arms.

\- "Ahoy! Ahoy!"

The man with the dark cloak turned with a grunt.

\- "For heaven's sake, Dean, stop asking to be a target..." he muttered.

He replied in a brief gesture of his cudgel, then turned back to Terrence.

\- "Can you carry your elf or should I levitate him?"

\- "We'll take care of him", Scorpius retorted, annoyed by the condescending tone.

He lifted Kreacher in his arms – _the elf was much heavier than what one would have expected from such a scrawny creature _\- and followed the other three.

Seagulls were hovering above the sea and the wind gusts were much more violent at the top of the hill. Grains of sand and salt whipped their faces.

\- "So?" asked the young man with pale blue eyes hopping on site as if he was not hot enough in his aviator jacket lined with sheepskin. "What is it? Muggle fishermen?"

His face was riddled with freckles and he had a turned-up nose under a mop of copper curls like Fabius Macmillan. He was probably no more than twenty.

\- "This is trouble", growled the man with the cloak, hustling him down the hill. "By the way, keep waving your arms like a fool and you'll make a great shooting exercise for the Scaly."

\- "Oops", Dean chuckled, winking at Wendy who was not looking.

She was gaping at the vast encampment spread out in the muddy plain, on the other side of the yellow hill.

\- "Wow", breathed Terrence.

Stakes were planted in the slope, topped with shredded long black banners in which flapped the wind. There were several big tops, tarnished and dented, and lots of smaller pointy tents with little chimneys puffing out small wisps of smoke. Long dark streaks were plowing the land through the camp and something that looked like a dump of broken boats stood to the west.

Down the rocky path, the teens turned the eyes away from the bells hanging on the stakes with striped bodies of eels, like horrible totem poles. The dead fish smell was unbearable when the wind calmed down.

The man with the cloak muttered some indistinct words before they passed under a wooden archway topped with a reptile skull and they had the impression they had gone through an invisible curtain of water.

There was nobody, but they constantly felt watched. A seagull cried over their heads and Wendy jumped, clinging to Terrence's arm. Big drops of sweat were streaming down Scorpius' forehead. Dean whistled between his teeth, a sound that seemed crudely out of place in the heavy silence.

\- "Here we are", finally said the man under the hood, stopping in front of a big top.

He lifted a piece of fabric and shoved them inside the tent.

* * *

oOoOoOo

* * *

It was still night, but morning was beginning to embroider a gold thread on the jagged mountaintops. The sea, on the other side, was shaded with pink shades like a diluted painting.

Albus took off his forehead from the fogged window and turned to his father.

\- "How much longer?" he asked, sitting back down on the leather seat.

Harry smiled encouragingly. The compartment lantern, swaying with the jolting of the train, was casting shadows on his face.

\- "An hour or two until Kennacraig, then we'll take a Muggle ferry."

\- "They haven't taken them down yet? _Tch_. I s'ppose they'd do fine hostages if needed..." Charlie muttered without opening his eyes.

His arms crossed on his chest, he had dozed for a while, his legs crossed on the seat opposite, his sheepskin vest thrown over him like a blanket.

\- "After the ferry, we'll walk to Cornabus", Harry continued calmly, ignoring the interruption to smooth the anxiety he had seen like a flash in his son's eyes. "There, we'll find people waiting for us."

\- "Why can't we just apparate?"

\- "You can't apparate in the Hebrides, Al, it's impossible", patiently answered his father. "No more than we can use a portkey. Don't ask me why. I just know that it's at least a good thing, in the sense that it protects the camp from unwelcomed surprises."

He reached out and ruffled Albus' dark curls.

\- "You should get some sleep. You didn't sleep a wink since the beginning of the trip."

The teenager shrugged.

\- "You neither…"

Charlie cracked open an eye.

\- "Stubborn just the same", he muttered, amused.

They did not hear him. Harry was lost in the study of his clasped hands, elbows on his thighs, and Albus was watching him silently.

The beard his father had shaved a few days earlier was starting to grow back in a dark stubble. There were new wrinkles on his forehead, a crease that gave a bitter fold to his mouth, and a few gray threads in his unruly black hair. His shoulders were sagging a bit and for the first time in his life, Albus realized his father was no longer a young man.

_Colonel Harry James Potter._

_Auror._

Albus remembered the father of his childhood, often gone to work, but always available when he came home – a playhouse built in the big tree, animated shadows behind a large white sheet in the garden, stupid throwing watermelons contests in the summer heat and the breeze that carried away their kites.

His memory had only registered confused snatches of muffled arguments behind closed doors or quickly wiped tears on his mother's cheeks - but it was not important. It was not his father.

But it was.

_Colonel Harry James Potter._

_Auror._

The man who had never let them suspect his battles, his past, his courage. Quiet and humble, he who had saved the world from a tyrant came to comfort them against imaginary bogeymen, with the same loyalty.

He had always wanted to be like his father, not even knowing how much of a hero he was. And now…

\- "Are we going to fight today?" Albus asked softly.

Harry lifted his head.

\- "I don't think so. Don't worry, Al. Everything will be fine."

His eyes were smiling, but his tensed face said "I won't let you risk your life."

The teenager leaned back in the seat, propping his backpack against the windowsill to use it as a pillow. He closed his eyes. His father nodded approvingly, then went back to the grim contemplation of his hands.

Charlie was snoring, as if he was fast asleep, but he was perfectly awake.

_"Nothing can be done, Harry._

_He _will_ have to fight alongside us._

_Even if we could win without the help of a dragon, when his kin will feel his presence, they will come to him._

_You won't be able to protect your son forever... "_

Dawn was breaking behind the window, tearing off the clouds, and everything that was familiar was disappearing a little more with each rail, in a shattering sound of steel.

Albus slept a bit aboard the ferry, on the shoulder of his father, while Charlie watched the sea, standing with his hands on his hips on the bridge, splashed with salty wind that rustled in his red hair.

It was beautiful on the island and the long walk on the road unrolling between two flat shingle walls proved more pleasant than they had imagined. There were no birds in the high and clear skies, not even a seagull. People waved their hands to greet them when they passed near a house and Charlie ventured several tasteless jokes about whiskey distilleries and the fireworks that would occur if a dragon took a fancy in breathing out a torrent of flames a little too close to the Muggle territory. Albus hungrily devoured a trout at the pub where they stopped for lunch. The woman who brought out the dishes suddenly asked him why he was not at school and, in panic, Harry came up with such an unbelievable story that Charlie laughed to tears. Albus had had a sip of the Muggle pint of beer served to his uncle and his head was spinning a bit.

At Cornabus, they found a young woman named Aretho, sitting on a big stone, carving a spear with a sharp knife. She was dressed in a homespun cloak that did little to hide her beautiful long legs and her tempting cleavage. Her chestnut skin brought out her opalescent irises in the creamy white of her eyes. She was wearing dreadlocks adorned with red feathers and wooden beads, and Albus thought she was very cool, even if he could not help blushing when her shoulder grazed his.

The second part of the journey was more tiring. Aretho had them scramble through rocks, run across a plain where the grass was struggling to grow, climb down a cliff, trudge along a loch, then hike on top of a hill before finally getting down to the camp established in Killeyan.

Albus was opening wide eyes passing by the tents. Here, a shirtless man marred with scars, his hair tied in a ponytail, was washing himself as if it was not cold at all. Another was busy picking his teeth with a fishbone, immersed in a book. Farther, two women were training together, casting spells that looked like dangerous but beautiful fireworks. There, a pair of socks soaped itself in a bucket of dirty water. Three Aurors in their thirties were playing cards sitting on a blanket that was levitating above the muddy ground and hurriedly got up when they saw Harry who just smiled, amused. Someone was playing the flute sitting atop the dump of boats and stopped to wave at them.

The applause that had gradually begun to crackle was making Albus a little giddy, until he saw something that made his hair stand on his neck. He halted suddenly and Charlie, who was behind him, almost jostled him.

\- "Hey, what are you doing, lad?" he protested.

The boy only pointed at the totems that lined the path up towards the sea coast, on the other side of the camp.

\- "Oh", said Charlie.

He gently squeezed Albus' shoulder.

\- "I guess they usually attack from there... You'll get used to it. You're only _half_ dragon, remember? The eels won't affect you as much."

The boy nodded, not really convinced.

\- "HARRY! BLOODY HECK YOU TOOK YOUR SWEET TIME!" bellowed someone enthusiastically, and Albus jumped. Then he smiled, because the tall man who was running to them, with dirty hair and a shaggy red beard on his gaunt face, was his uncle.

His father hugged Ron back warmly and Charlie shook hands with his 'little' brother who was a good fifteen inches taller than him.

\- "Did you have a nice trip? We weren't expecting you before two o'clock, the Scaly began their embargo on the ferries. The _Cal'mac_ resisted long, but I reckon the old Bercelak finally got his way with them. Did you sail out this morning?"

Harry raised a hand to stop the flood of questions

\- "Wait, Ron, wait. Where is Maximilian Rottweiller? I have to report to him."

Ron stared at him, then he frowned and rubbed his neck wearily.

\- "He's dead, Harry. He died the day before yesterday."

\- "_What_?"

Albus winced at his father's anxious tone.

\- "We manage to recover some of the message carried by the owl scorched last night, that's what told us of your arrival, but it's been more than three days since communications were cut with the Ministry, Harry", explained Ron gravely. "We were beginning to think they had abandoned us. The last supplying of food was one week ago."

A murmur ran through the crowd of Aurors gathered around them.

\- "You mean you didn't know? I thought they sent you here because Hermione's muggle posted letter had reached the ministry... And what's the secret weapon the message was mentioning? I don't really get _why_ you had to come with Albus either. Ginny and my mother must be in a tizzy. What is it? A fourth-year internship?"

Harry took a step back, feeling sick.

\- "Anyway I hope others will arrive soon, one way or another, because we won't hold much longer now that MacFusty has a stranglehold on Muggle transportations", Ron continued, glancing puzzlingly at his nephew. "This old crackpot of Bercelak was laughing his guts out, last night. And the dragon expert, they should have sent him earlier if he could give us an opening against these demons..."

Harry looked around in shock, staring at the thin and tired men who were listening to the conversation without much hope.

\- "They said _fifteen_ brigades!"

The scarred Auror snorted.

\- "Yeah, that's how much there were at the beginning. Now it's more like eight."

Albus swallowed hard.

\- "Anyway, it's not a place for children", the man added icily.

Aretho nodded beside him, and so did many others. Ron cast a glance around him, feeling the hostility ride with incomprehension, and studied the clearly distraught face of Harry.

\- "Okay, okay", he said, raising his arms to appease the murmur. "Calm down, mates. For now, we..."

A gong rang powerfully, cutting him, vibrating in the air around them. In a second, all wands were out.

\- "What was that?" Harry gasped.

\- "Someone made a breach in the magic wards surrounding the island", said the man with a ponytail, his breathing short and fast. "We must go!"

\- "Wow - wow – WOW", Ron hollered as a whirl of golden sand suddenly billowed over the ground.

In a circle of wands aiming at him, his ears flattened back, his fur bristling with fear, his green eyes blazing and his fangs bared, the young black dragon caterwauled in anger.

* * *

_**TBC**_

* * *

_**Next chapter : **_**HELLO, GOODBYE**


	21. Hello, Goodbye

**HELLO, GOODBYE**

* * *

Harry made but one jump.

\- "DON'T FIRE! It's Al ! It's my son!"

\- "You brought with you... a _dragon_?" gasped the scarred auror.

Harry ran a hand through his black hair, hardly surprised to feel it sticky with sweat.

\- "All right. I know it must have come as quite a surprise", he said hoarsely. "But this is not the time to address this issue. We have company."

Ron opened and closed his mouth several times without ensuring a sound then seemed to regain control of his body. He moistened his lips.

\- "Dean, Darren. Go check what's going on", he ordered. "The others, in position. Uh... er, Charlie, the d-dragon. I'll let you deal with it. Harry – with me."

The two Aurors he had designated jogged uphill towards the seaside. The others retreated cautiously, gaping at the quivering creature whose spade-shaped tail was furiously beating the air. Harry hesitated, then followed his brother-in-law. When everyone was gone, Charlie crouched and began to whistle quietly.

The dragon sniffed the smell of the sea, the camp, and then seemed to relax. He lifted a paw and snorted, annoyed to find it wet and muddy. He shook it, then put it down in a puddle. His ears perked up. He trotted up to the man and nuzzled his shoulder, making him lose his balance.

\- "All right, mate", Charlie laughed, straightening up. "It's okay. Come on, come back now. You're too big to fit in the tent like this and we better know a bit more about the situation here, before you start acting up in Toothless mode."

He scratched the soft spot between the two golden split green eyes, grabbed the cooing dragon's black velvet jowls with both hands.

\- "Al. Come on, boy…"

A whirl of golden sand billowed and the man smiled broadly: now he was pinching the cheeks of his nephew, who looked rather displeased, his sweater a little crooked on the neck. The boy quickly pushed back his uncle's hands and looked away.

\- "I'm such a loser..."

Charlie gave him an affectionate shove.

\- "Not at all. I reckon these bullies were the ones freaked out. That'll teach them not to believe only in what they see! Come on, let's go inside before your father has colonics."

Albus cast a glance behind him, following the man who was heading to the main tent.

_"Are they here?_

_The Dragons…_

_Can you feel them?_

_Do you think they will…"_

A few seagulls were hovering above the hill in the cold blue sky. The silhouettes of the two aurors gone to scout seemed tiny, high up, against the light. One of them cast a bright green spell which wheezed down and blossomed into a clover inside the camp.

\- "This is not an attack", Ron said quietly, putting his hand on the shoulder of Albus who had remained at the entrance of the tent. "Question is, who's the _harmless_ intruder who's got enough power to break through the wards surrounding the island..."

He pulled his nephew in and dropped the tarpaulin door.

* * *

oOoOoOo

* * *

When they were pushed inside the big top, it took them a few moments to get used to the orange darkness.

Wendy blinked, shaking against Terrence who was looking around with interest. Scorpius was breathing heavily, perhaps because of the weight of the elf in his arms, or perhaps because he too was impressed.

The main tent was bigger than it looked from the outside. The ground was covered with thick carpets caked in grass and mud. There were lanterns hanging on the pillars and onto the ropes webbing to the cone ceiling. On the right, a stack of stoneware bowls stood on a large rectangular table flanked by long benches. On the left, behind a screen you could see two bunk beds with blankets thrown across the pillows, as if they had been left in a hurry, and a large tin bathtub. A block of soap and a towel were waiting on a stool and a garment that looked like a black leather armor with steel pauldrons was hanging in an open large oak wardrobe.

In front of them, on a platform of planks, stood a large board covered with plans drawn by bewitched chalks and scrolls pinned by knives, next to a desk on which was sitting a tall man with his arms crossed, looking sarcastic. His hair and the bushy beard eating his hollow cheeks were of the same color as his autumn wool sweater adorned with a huge capital R. He was dressed in threadbare jeans and wellies, and was carelessly flipping his wand on his fingers.

\- "Well, well, well. If I was expecting this", he sighed, rolling his eyes.

He looked about to sneer, but Wendy cut him off, suddenly letting go of Terrence's arm to pounce on Albus whom she had just discovered in a corner near the large table. She jumped in his arms, stifling a cry of relief.

\- "_Al_! We did it! It _really_ worked!"

Cheeks flushed, the boy gently pulled her away after exchanging a glance with his father and uncle.

\- "What are you doing here?" Harry asked in an unfriendly voice.

\- "I don't know what you imagined, but it is not the last trendy place to be", Ron snorted. "We're at war, kids. You have nothing to do here."

\- "_How_ did you passed through the magic wards?" added the Auror wearing a cloak, pushing back his hood and causing a fourfold horrified hiccup.

Half of his face was hideously swollen, plowed with brown spots and yellowish bubbles. His right eye disappeared into the folds of raw skin and his teeth could be seen where his burnt lips had curled up. His milky blue left orb had no eyelashes.

Charlie closed his eyes. He knew _who_ could inflict this kind of injury.

Terrence's eyes widened. He tried to calm the wild pounding of his heart in his chest.

_I'm not scared._

_I'm not scared._

_I'm not scared._

He swallowed hard, held up his chin when the taste of bile ascended in his esophagus and straightened up to face the Auror.

\- "We apparated", he replied in a voice that barely trembled.

Wendy nodded, snuggled against Albus who was looking at her in awe.

\- "One _cannot_ apparate on _Islay Island_", Ron retorted, frowning. He played a bit with his wand, then got up and came down from the platform. "_How_ did you do that?"

From the way his eyes had darkened, Harry guessed he was suspecting them of being subject to the _Imperium_ – or perhaps to not be what they seemed.

He stepped forward to intervene before the hostility slowly engulfing the atmosphere would degenerate.

\- "We _really_ did apparate", Scorpius said at the same time, in an impatient voice. "The elf made it possible."

All heads turned to him. He chinned down to the old servant who was still inert.

\- "Kreacher. T'was he who took us here."

\- "_Kreacher_!" Harry repeated, stunned. "What... where... WHAT?"

Charlie made his way up to Scorpius, stepping in between Albus and Wendy.

\- "The elf is in a bad shape", he said curtly. "We should treat him before asking more questions."

\- "Put him on the table", Ron ordered, throwing a coat over the wooden surface with a flip of his wand.

Scorpius gently laid down the frail body and Charlie leaned over Kreacher.

\- "He's very weak", he said, raising his head after checking on him.

His grim look drilled in each of the teenagers, focusing particularly on Terrence.

\- "He will not last the night."

Scorpius stumbled back, as if he was suddenly struggling to stand up.

\- "You mean that... he... we..."

Wendy's eyes welled up with tears.

\- "We're _sorry_, we didn't mean to hurt him..."

\- "The powers of the house elves are beyond our knowledge", Harry said in a dangerously quiet voice. "But surely you had to be quite a _genius_ to guess that he could ignore the seemingly immutable laws of magic and apparate in a forbidden place - carrying three young people."

His frozen jade gaze was on Terrence.

\- "I suppose you meant no harm, but you should never have done that. Neither come here, or ask an elf this old to pay with his life the price of your foolishness."

Terrence was shaking. He closed his eyes, trying to calm his breathing.

\- "I'm sorry", he finally uttered in an almost inaudible voice. "But we couldn't let _Albus_ risk his own life ..."

Wendy was silently crying. Scorpius cleared his throat.

\- "It's me", he said, very pale. "It was I who had this idea. I... I... I knew. What the elves can do. We had no other choice! I asked Fetloack and obviously he didn't want to, he's bond to the school and the teachers, and..."

He choked.

\- "I... I'm sorry, but... he told us to ask the portrait of the elf who died during the war..."

\- "Dobby", rasped Terrence, seeing the adults glance darkly at each other.

Scorpius was having difficulty finding his words. His gray eyes were full of tears.

\- "And... uh... Do... Dobby went to another painting and suddenly he ... this... Kreacher. He showed up. He s-said he would take us to _Islay Island_..."

He snuffled, bit his lip.

\- "He said he would help us... that he would do anything for Al..."

In the silence, Ron scratched his eyebrow.

\- "And so he did", he shrugged, moving away from the table. "Stupid elf. He always has a terrible timing."

\- "_Ron_!" Harry protested.

\- "What?" retorted his best friend.

His eyes glowered, then his face turned weary.

\- "Kreacher will die happy, he did what he wanted..."

He crossed his arms and leaned against the main pillar of the tent, sinking his very serious gaze in the eyes of the teenagers who were staring at him in shock, daring his brother and his brother-in-law.

\- "You know who they got last week? Young Romulus Alastair, the trainee who always had his pockets full with _fizwizbiz_... Thirty-two years old."

He had a bitter laugh.

\- "He had signed to become an Oubliator. He was getting married, Harry... they called him back to the front lines and _dang_, two days after... so an old elf who in twenty years has never been able to speak two words to me without adding "Weasley, traitor to his blood"… forgive me if I do not get sentimental."

Charlie lowered his head and said nothing. The disfigured Auror softly pulled up his hood.

\- "I know", Harry simply said.

And he put a comforting hand on Scorpius' shoulder and another on Terrence's, in silence.

\- "Dad?"

Wendy looked up and wiped her cheeks. Albus was coming to the table, pulling a piece of parchment from his pocket.

\- "The elf. His name Kreacher, right?"

Harry nodded.

\- "Is he _your_ elf?"

His father hesitated. Ron was watching, slightly knitting his eyebrows.

\- "He's an elf that I inherited. A long time ago. He lives in the house where I have my office."

Albus slowly unfolded the piece of parchment.

\- "On my birthday, I received a letter from someone I didn't know", he explained shyly. "Someone called Kreacher. I thought it was an elf, seeing as he wrote, but... I couldn't figure how he knew me..."

Harry sighed.

\- "I brought you to my office when you were just a baby. That's when he saw you."

Albus let the information sink in. He slowly tucked back the letter in his pocket, then leaned over the scrawny creature, gently taking the old bony hand.

\- "Kreacher..." he called softly.

Charlie held his breath, like all the others.

The elf stirred. The shredded tips of his ears wiggled slightly. He licked his lips. A hoarse breath came off his hairy nostrils. His bulging eyes opened with difficulty and he met an emerald gaze.

\- "Hello, Kreacher", said Albus fondly.

The flabby cheeks of the old elf quivered and the corners of his mouth curled up.

\- "The young master..." he mumbled.

\- "Thanks for your letter", the boy whispered with a smile. "Thank you for bringing my friends here..."

The elf coughed and his chest caved in beneath his dirty and frayed tunic. Under his bushy white eyebrows, his pale blue eyes were contemplating Albus.

\- "Kreacher… Kreacher saw him again..."

He gasped and his eyes closed again. The boy squeezed the cold, gray and slender fingers. For a moment, they thought the old servant would lift his eyelids again, then his head slowly slid to the side.

Albus looked at him a moment in silence, then he closed his eyes and a tear rolled down his cheek as he bent to kiss the elf's forehead.

Ron looked away. Wendy did not realize who had put an arm on her shoulders and snuggled against the cloak of the disfigured Auror. Terrence and Scorpius had turned to stone.

Harry took a deep breath, then walked round the table.

\- "Come, Al", he said softly. "It's over."

Charlie took off his sheepskin vest and covered the lifeless body of the elf.

\- "Darren, take the children to the dormitory. They're exhausted, they need to sleep before they leave", ordered Ron.

The cloaked Auror simply nodded and piloted the dazed teens out of the tent. Harry followed them, hugging Albus.

\- "What a mess", Ron uttered between his teeth, once they were gone.

He kicked a bench and only succeeded in hurting himself. He sat down heavily on the steps of the platform and rummaged angrily in his red hair.

Charlie sat beside him, hands joined, elbows on his thighs.

He said nothing, but his shoulder flicked against his brother's.

\- "Tch", Ron growled.

And Charlie smiled.

* * *

oOoOoOo

* * *

The afternoon was well advanced, when the teenagers left the dormitory, woken up by the commotion. The sun was stretching its rays down on the mountain, shimmering on the boats' dump and growing long shadows on the damp soil.

The Aurors were gathered on the side of the camp facing the plain.

\- "Here they are!" suddenly shouted an excited voice.

A pony was coming to them, galloping, crumbling off chips of mud and grass. The woman who was riding it pulled on the reins just before the arcade and mumbled inaudible words before going under the wooden beam that marked the entrance of the camp.

\- "What news?"

\- "Was the loot good?"

\- "You'll never guess what happened while you were gone shopping!"

The joyful voices were mingling and Wendy felt her heart warm up for the first time since their disastrous arrival.

The woman was dressed a beige wool skirt, thick tights and mismatched rain boots. She was wearing a long old pink crochet vest that swept the ground and her hair was untidy, pinned up into a bushy bun. His undershot chin and straight nose would have stopped anyone from calling her pretty, but her determined brown eyes, bright with boundless love, really made her look beautiful.

She swiftly dismounted, got rid of her huge backpack and handed it to an Auror, then turned to Dean who was approaching. A young man wrapped in a blanket was nodding on the back of the pony, clinging to the saddle, only half conscious.

\- "He's got a fever again", she stated worriedly. "The doctor said..."

\- "Hermione!" Harry called, making his way through the crowd.

\- "HARRY!" cried the woman whose face brightened. "_Oh_, _Harry_, you came!"

She hugged him tight, then pulled away, leaving her hand on the arm of the man who gently helped the patient off the pony with the help of Dean.

\- "Teddy..."

Hermione nodded.

\- "Yes. He was injured the day before yesterday. But Harry, how..."

She paused and stared at the teenagers standing a little apart from the group.

\- "What... what are they..."

\- "Long story", said Ron who had just joined them.

He rubbed his jaw, cast a side glance, then crossed his arms and cleared his throat.

\- "Hum. Took you long to come home."

* * *

**_TBC_**

* * *

_Next chapter:_ **Then** **the drums** **fell silent**


	22. Then the drums fell silent

**THEN THE DRUMS FELL SILENT**

* * *

Harry took off his glasses and wiped them on the corner of his shirt before putting them back on his nose.

\- "... And that's how they got here", he concluded grimly. "We have to keep Albus here, even it's obviously out of the question to let him fight, but we have to find a way to send back the other three."

Hermione sucked in a deep breath, still in shock, her hands clasped in front of her mouth.

\- "Oh God, Ginny... poor Ginny, it must be horrible..."

Her brown eyes automatically went to Ron who was standing on the platform, his back turned to them and his arms crossed, then she looked at her best friend.

\- "I wish I could tell you there is a solution", she muttered. "But that's impossible, Harry. Not anymore. The airport was shut down this morning and the last ferry left a while ago. The doctor in Glenegedale was very worried. The Muggles really believe in the cover story of the arsonist and he wasn't sure he'd have enough supplies if a tragedy like that of Ballygrant was to happen again... "

Charlie propped his chin in his hand, absently watching the sunbeam playing in the table's wood creases.

\- "Is that the village they burnt?" he asked in a neutral voice.

Hermione nodded.

\- "_Wiped out_ would be more accurate", corrected Ron from the platform without looking back. "Fifty-two muggles and a wizarding family of four, including a boy who had just received his Hogwarts letter."

\- "The _Daily Prophet_ spoke of three villages", Harry said slowly.

\- "Why, was it not enough victims?" retorted the red-haired Auror, abruptly turning round. "Not glamorous enough for the press, I suppose!"

\- "Ron..." Hermione pleaded softly.

Her ex-husband came down striding from the platform and slammed his hands on the table violently.

\- "The ministry waited for almost a month before deciding to send someone to see what was happening in the Hebrides! _Riots_ – as if!"

He broke into a sarcastic laugh.

\- Since the beginning the _muggles_ were suspecting something was wrong. They limited tourism long before the first Auror was sent. Farms in flames, lights on the ocean, several brawls in town, a drunk bloke who says he saw the devil on the coast and, as if that were not enough, our services had received letters telling them the old MacFusty was proclaiming the return of the Empire of Dragons!"

Hermione sighed.

\- "So far, we could control the leaks, but it won't last forever. Each night, the magical defenses go down a little more and the risk that the battles are seen increases."

\- "That's not the worst, Harry", Ron added. "There are three thousand muggles on this island and even if Bercelak MacFusty isn't the Dark Lord, he's clearly thinking of ruling them all. I'm sure he controls the mind of the _Cal'mac_'s president. That would explain the troubles we get when restocking."

Harry's eyes were going back-and-forth between his two friends and it looked like if every new sentence was weighting more on his shoulders.

\- "I thought I'd ship Teddy off to Scotland with the last ferry and that we could evacuate the children with him. I was hoping that once the Trace would be reactivated, the ministry would send someone to get them", Hermione explained. "But now it's impossible, and they won't be safe in a hostel on the island either, there are informers everywhere. The best would be for them to stay at the camp..."

\- "Wait a minute", Charlie cut in. "_Restocking_?"

Ron made a pout.

\- "What? We must eat and tend to our wounds - especially since the only healer we had is now pushing daisies. We buy from the muggles and Hermione occasionally raids the clinic to "borrow" what we need to make potions."

The woman winced apologetically.

\- "I hate to perform _Oblivate_ on the doctor, but we have no choice. We're lack lots of things. And with this kind of injuries... anyway, I don't think he would buy my story of a boiler accident every time..."

Harry frowned.

\- "Wait a minute, Hermione. Go back. What did you say? The Trace is _not_ active on this island? You mean we have three kids here and _no one_ knows their location?"

Ron scratched his creaky beard and sat on the edge of the table.

\- "Think of it as good news, Harry. At least, Malfoy won't barge in here, all mad and ready to curse your son for kidnapping his offspring."

Hermione rolled her eyes.

\- "It's not funny, Ronald Weasley."

Harry chuckled.

_Some__ things did not change._

The sun had glided down with time and was now playing in the tousled hair of the woman, haloing the wisps around her face.

\- "I'm really glad you're here, Harry", she whispered. "We needed hope."

Ron snorted.

\- "She's right, this time around. The men will take heart, now that the survivor is in control."

Harry stood up abruptly.

\- "No way, Ron!" he protested. "You held the fort for days. I won't take your place. I know nothing of this war, that'd be reckless and more, this ... this is not fair."

His best friend looked at him in the eye.

\- "Oh, but I _want_ you to do it, Harry. You've no idea. You think the Battle of Hogwarts was awful? Wait until you see the flames of hell sweeping the camp. We _need_ your tenacious ability to survive the end of the world.

Harry swallowed hard.

\- "How much time do we have left?"

Ron pulled a watch from his jeans' pocket.

\- "Just four hours before sunset."

* * *

oOoOoOo

* * *

Scorpius wolfed down his last handful of chips and crumpled the cardboard tray smeared with grease stains. On the other side of the table, Albus was licking his fingers like a child and Wendy was watching him, her throat tickled by a strong desire to laugh.

\- "If I didn't know you, I'd say you _like_ fish", Terrence commented, shaking his head.

\- "I don't", corrected his best friend, now dutifully cleaning the foil in which the sea trout had been wrapped. "But my _roommate_ does."

Scorpius giggled involuntarily.

\- "Maybe you could open the _Toothless' Chippy_ and make a living out of it", said Wendy. "You…"

She paused, realizing that all eyes were on them. A hush had settled in the dining tent.

\- "Bloody kids."

\- "Don't know not what they signed for."

\- "... won't last two hours."

\- "How can one be so foolish!"

Mumbled between high and low, in the rattle of spoons and glasses, the words were laden with weary disgusted animosity. The Auror with a ponytail, whose rolled up sleeves let people see his biceps seamed with scars, was finishing his jelly, one foot on the bench, an arm propped on his knee.

\- "They won't be bragging and boasting, later on", he growled, grabbing his cup to drink a swig. "There's going to be whining and calling mummy."

Wendy wanted him to choke on his water and her wish was granted.

\- "Come on, let's go", Albus muttered, getting up.

Spluttering, the Auror glared at him.

\- "_Babies_!" he hissed. "That's _all_ you can do? The secret weapon of the ministry is a hairball who's not passed intuitive magic! How can they expect us to win this war?"

Terrence stood up, very quiet. He flipped his wand on his fingers before sliding it in the back pocket of his jeans. He pushed up his glasses on his nose.

\- "T'was _me_."

The man stared at him in disbelief. Then he set his cup down and went to him, slaloming in between the tables. The muddy ground was sticking to his boots.

\- "You dare challenge me?"

Scorpius stood up and slicked back his bangs, lifting his icy gray eyes to face the Auror.

\- "Surely the enemy would enjoy watching us fighting each other", he snapped impatiently.

Albus shivered at the hostile looks he did not understand. A cold draft was creeping under the tent, biting his ankles through his socks.

\- "I'm sorry", he began. "We... uh. We didn't want to cause troubles..."

\- "_Why_ are you apologizing? You're here to _help _them!" Wendy protested in a high-pitched tone.

The man's dark eyes narrowed.

\- "Help us ?" he repeated. "HELP us? Are you kidding me? Merlin's beard, mates, did you hear _that_?"

Nobody was laughing in the dining tent.

The Auror stepped closer to the teenagers and threateningly cracked his shoulder bones under his black linen shirt.

\- "I don't know what you thought, but leaving your comfy school benches to come play heroes on this infernal island won't give any points to your houses! You're just going to grill like twigs."

\- "Skyler", interjected a quiet but firm voice.

The Auror cleared his throat and sat down, looking sheepish like a student scolded by Mrs McGonagall.

In fact, the woman who had spoken was much like Hogwarts' current Headmaster. Her wrinkled skin was crinkled on the protruding bones of her face, small glasses were pinched above her nostrils and she was wearing a pointed hat made of felt.

\- "I'm Lizzie", she told the teenagers. "Don't just stand there like moon-gobblers, come with me!"

Albus followed her and Wendy did the same. Before leaving the tent, Terrence glanced over his shoulder to the Auror with a ponytail who still fuming in silence, but Scorpius ignored the hostile crowd completely.

Outside, the sun had just gone down and was bathing the plain and the mountain in tawny light. Seagulls were crying above the hill that hid the sea.

\- "We did something really wrong, didn't we?" Wendy whispered.

\- "T'was not very smart, indeed", nodded the woman who was moving forward quickly, much more alert than one would have suspected given her age. "But you wanted to protect your friend and that's a laudable sentiment. Reckless, but admirable."

She stopped next to a tent and pulled the flap of cloth that served as a door.

\- "You will do me the pleasure of keeping up with the beautiful optimism and lighten up Teddy Lupin's spirits for a moment."

Her clear blue eyes fell on Albus, like those of a bird of prey.

\- "When I met your father, he was a young Auror. He and his friend Weasley were too ahead of the training program. They had already fought more than anyone should have... they had forgotten how to laugh."

She patted Wendy's cheek, smiled to Terrence and Scorpius.

\- "Skyler's not a bad lad, he's afraid for you, that's all. Don't try to grow up too fast. It won't bring anything good."

Albus nodded.

\- "All right. Now, go in there and behave! I'll come pick you up when it's time."

\- "Time for what?" Scorpius whispered, raising a suspicious eyebrow as she left the tent.

Terrence shrugged. He was lost on thought and almost stepped on Wendy's foot.

The cold wind that had slipped inside with them billowed in the white curtains of the infirmary and dissipated a bit the strong smell of bitter herbs and Muggle disinfectant. The last sun of the day was lingering on the almost empty metal shelves. A strip of gauze was rolling itself on a silver platter and safety pins were playing hide and seek around a pot of ointment with an outdated label. A large cardboard box overflowing with sterile gauze and scissors lay on a trolley on wheels repaired with a Spello-tape and yellow police tape.

\- "Hi, Teddy", Albus said, coming to the iron bed that was the only one occupied in the left row.

\- "Yo, Al!" greeted the pale young man lying under the striped blue blankets, leaning on one elbow to straighten up. "So it _was_ true, you really ca..."

He paused, and his dull blond hair suddenly turned a bright purple.

\- "Oh. _Bonjour mademoiselle"_, he said, flashing a flirtatious smile to Wendy.

Terrence saw the sly wink the patient was giving to Albus who blushed, and he felt like chuckling, despite the circumstances.

Albus introduced everyone quickly, explaining in a few words to his father's godson how his friends had come to the island. Teddy gave a whistle of admiration, even if they still had to hear a "you're downright mad!" that sounded much like the adults' blames.

Scorpius sat on the next bed, looking supremely bored.

\- "Does it hurt ?" Wendy asked as if the question had burst out of her, her bulging eyes looking at the seeping bandage wrapped around the Auror's shoulder. The gauze badly hid the pierced blisters and the yellowish red liquid that dripped from them.

Teddy grinned.

\- "Yep", he confessed with a light tone. "But I will survive, don't you worry, _chérie_."

Wendy's cheeks flushed and Albus glowered at Teddy.

\- "A dragon did that to you, isn't it?" Scorpius asked _casually_ (nobody was deceived, though).

The young man leaned back, helped by his godfather's son. He propped his head on the pillow, and his hair lost its bright color, as the the dark circles under his eyes seemed to dig deeper.

\- "It was the _Anghenfil_, MacFusty's dragon", he explained. "They have four beasts. All monstrous, but this one, he's _huge_ and he's not controlled by magic. Ron thinks that if we can knock him down, the three remaining scaly will return to their normal state and scatter off. They're not evil, just wild animals. Well, what I'm trying to say it's... well, it doesn't work, anyway."

Terrance and Scorpius exchanged a look behind the back of Albus who had dropped his head.

\- "In short, if we get MacFusty _and_ slay his dragon, everything will be fine. It's not complicated, innit?

Teddy's voice sounded suddenly very tired.

\- "It's a simple mission. Too bad we don't have enough brute force to oppose them. Spells bounce rather well on dragon skin. And when you approach a little too close, well... _that_'s what happens."

In the silence, Terrence munched the inside of his cheeks.

\- "That's why the ministry needs Toothless", Wendy said bitterly, expressing aloud what her friend was thinking.

\- "Who's Toothless?" asked Teddy.

Albus took a deep breath.

\- "His name's not Toothless", he corrected. "He's c…"

He stopped talking abruptly. Scorpius had gotten up, seeking the source of the sound that was born in the distance - a muffled and regular sound.

\- "What's that?" Wendy asked anxiously.

Terrence cocked his head to the side.

\- "Sounds like... drums."

Teddy closed his eyes, then opened them again.

\- "Help me get up, Al. I need to get ready."

He groaned as he straightened up. His face was drowned in sweat, and the teenagers stared at him, aghast.

\- "Quit with the nonsense", said Hermione's stern voice from the entrance of the tent.

She quickly came to them, gently but firmly pushed back the young man, pulled the blanket over him and stroked his hair.

\- "Teddy, you're in no shape to fight. Lizzie and Colchis will take you to the cave with the children. Stop trying to be a hero."

\- "Harry..."

Something furious and infinitely sad glowed in the eyes of the woman.

\- "Don't you dare think I'll let you ask _Harry_ if you can die tonight."

Teddy rolled his eyes and stayed silent.

\- "Excuse me?"

Hermione looked at Wendy and softened. She put a brown wisp of hair behind her ear and smiled gently.

\- "What is it, love?"

Albus thought his aunt sounded a lot like his grandmother, Molly Weasley.

\- "What... what do we hear?"

\- "Drums", answered the woman, tightening her pink crochet vest around her shoulders. "The Rebels have begun their incantations to crack the magic wards surrounding the island. They will attack at nightfall."

She shivered, glanced worriedly at the sunlight fading on the shelf. It was a lot darker now and the dull beat of the drums was seeping into their bones like a cold.

\- "Off you go. We have to hurry. Lizzie will equip you, then you'll go with her and Colchis to the cave."

\- "Me too?" Albus asked, lifting his big emerald eyes.

Hermione cupped his chin in her hands.

\- "You too, Al", she confirmed softly. "You will _not_ go to battle. Your father would never allow it. The ministry has no way of knowing what you're doing on this island, the Trace is turned off in the Hebrides. Don't worry, Harry won't get into trouble. Now, run along."

She sighed once they were out and turned to the injured young man who was pulling a face.

\- "What?"

\- "It's not like you to disobey the regulation and encourage others to do so", he chuckled. "I thought you were an exemplar bureaucrat."

\- "If only you knew", replied the woman humorously. She rolled her eyes in a theatrical discouraged pause. "It's the influence of Harry and Ron. I should move to another country..."

She smiled sadly and Teddy said nothing more.

* * *

oOoOoOo

* * *

Terrence walked to the edge to get a better view of the plain, leaning against the rock at the entrance of the cave.

The drums were still beating in the distance, at the same pace as his heart.

The sun had completely disappeared. The mountain was casting a grayish glow on the deserted camp. The sky had darkened and, beyond the hill, mist was rising over the sea.

\- "Al, you okay?" Wendy's voice asked behind him.

He turned around.

Albus was rubbing his ear with a frown.

\- "Um", he replied absently.

Teddy Lupin shot him a look of sympathy from the cot on which he was lying at the back of the cave. Lizzie was pounding something in a clay bowl. Colchis, the giant who had accompanied them, was sitting on the floor cross-legged, with his back very straight as if he was meditating. The torch was glinting on the ebony skin of his skull, his lustrous muscles and the golden tattoo on his forehead.

Both Aurors wore the same black breastplate as the teenagers, with steel pauldrons and a wand holder at their belt. They wore thick dragon skin gloves and high boots that protected their knees.

Terrence had loved when Lizzie had adjusted the leather suits on them and brought out belts and shoulder protections from simple metal buckles. He had struggled to recognize himself in the mirror that Teddy had handed him with a grin.

_Different.__ Impressive. Handsome ?_

_He__ no longer felt like a child._

Scorpius' blond hair, slicked back, made him look a manga prince, dressed like that. Wendy could have been a warrior princess, she seemed even more fierce and beautiful in this than in her Quidditch gear. Albus resembled his father in a slender and more delicate fashion, like a fine knight.

Lt. Col. Ron Weasley was even more frightening in his armor than in jeans, with his red bushy beard and his pale face, and his ex-wife had been hardly recognizable, when she had reappeared without her skirt and wool vest - the fitted and severe black bodice gave credibility to her title of negotiator (though her chestnut hair was as unruly as Harry's and Albus').

They all looked dreadfully serious. Ready for battle.

\- "D'you think they'll come soon?" Scorpius muttered as he came to join Terrence at the entrance of the cave. "Waiting like that, it's just ... _tiring_."

\- "Are we going to _sit_ here all night?" Wendy asked Lizzie.

\- "Yes, love. Holding ground, that's all we can do until morning. At dawn, the dragons go back to their nests and MacFusty is forced to withdraw. With sunlight, the magic wards are much stronger, we can restore them."

Scorpius glanced toward Colchis.

\- "I'm sure he would rather be with the others than babysitting us", he whispered.

Terrence nodded.

It was growing darker on the plain and the drums were still beating dully. He could almost hear the slow litany breaking the spells one by one.

\- "Oh", Scorpius said, pointing to the dark gray sky. "The first star."

Terrence looked up and suddenly his heart halted.

The drums had stopped.

A figure appeared on the hill in front of him. Then another, then dozens, then hundreds.

\- "Al?" cried Wendy behind the two boys. "Al, you okay? Your ear… it's bleeding."

Scorpius turned and Terrence was about to do the same, when a golden arrow ran over the sea on the other side of the hill. In a second, the waves swelled and blazed, casting a fiery glow in the dark sky.

\- "It's starting", Teddy breathed, clutching his wand on the cover, his face turned towards the entrance of the cave.

\- "Al..."

Wendy's voice was pleading. She was hovering over the boy who was looking absently at his blood-stained hand.

Colchis opened his eyes and slowly stood up, pulling out his wand, staring at Albus.

\- "Swanson, we have a problem..."

Scorpius was pulling on his sleeve and Terrence tore his gaze away from the flames dancing on the horizon and the hundreds of silhouettes standing on the ridge. He turned and blinked.

A golden swarm filled the cave and before Colchis could lift his wand, the black dragon had stood up, his fur bristling, his green eyes gleaming. He opened his mouth and hissed furiously, then jumped out, unfolded his dark wings and disappeared into the night caught in fire.

* * *

**_TBC_**

* * *

**_Next chapter: UNTIL DAWN_**


	23. Until Dawn

**UNTIL DAWN**

* * *

Ron slammed Harry's shoulder warmly when he was done speaking.

\- "And Colonel Potter forgot to tell you he's already faced _lots_ of dragons - and always made it out_ alive_! A Norbert Ridgeback, a Hungarian Horntail, Gringotts' warder _and_ his stepmother!"

A roar of laughter shook the ranks.

\- "Let me tell you tonight will be a simple waltz for him!"

\- "Lieutenant! What's a "Norbert"? Never heard of it!" sniggered someone.

\- "Consider yourself lucky to be too old to have had Hagrid as a professor at Hogwarts!" Ron shouted cheerfully.

Hermione articulated the words "Norwegian-when-are-you-going-to-stop-being-an-idiot" in front of him, frowning, but there was an amused twinkle in her brown eyes.

\- "You all know what you have to do, so there's no need for chit-chat", concluded Ron, resuming to a more serious face. "To your posts, wands ready. We meet at dawn!"

\- "Until dawn!" shouted the Aurors in a clamor, before dispersing, swift and effective.

Hermione went to Harry who was giving a last glance to the mountain in the growing darkness.

\- "Don't worry", she whispered, putting her hand on his arm. "They will be safe there."

She did not add that she envied him because he had been able to hug his son while she did not know if she would ever again see her own children, because she understood and shared his fears: _what if that night, all ended? What if MacFusty would rise victorious in the morning... what would happen to Albus?_

\- "They can't know about him", Harry said through clenched teeth. "Never. We won't let them win."

Hermione quickly nodded. She turned round, leaned back to back with Harry. They raised their wands to the sky in which the night was pooling like ink spilled in water.

_Protego maxima._

_Fianto Duri._

_Repello Inimicum._

Hermione's eyes welled up with tears, like every night since the beginning of the week as she chanted the spells which had protected their small tent for almost a year, and which the teachers had casted over the school before the Great Battle of Hogwarts.

_Protego__ maxima._

_Fianto__ Duri._

_Repello__ Inimicum._

Unspeakable sadness clutched Harry's heart as he spoke the familiar words, giving way to the same rage that had driven his seventeen years old self.

_They were going to_ live_.__ They were going to see an end to this nightmare and rebuild the world, and _never_ would their children have to fight._

The first star kindled in the dark sky and the hills suddenly blazed up.

* * *

oOoOoOo

* * *

He was at home, curled up under the duvet in his boat-shaped bed. It was hot. It must have been summer, because he could hear water splashing and hollering that owed to be James running after Lily. It was so hot and...

The bed was rocking.

_"__Albus. ALBUS!"_

The imperious voice roused him.

It was dark.

But still incredibly hot.

_"__Albus Severus Potter, open your eyes!"_

He obeyed - _it was harder to do than__ to say though_.

Suddenly his blurred sight adjusted to the fiery night. Spells were bouncing and fizzing, green and blue, and the racket was awful. Smoke stung his nostrils and he spurred to the sky to escape from this nightmare.

_"Come back."_

His heart was pounding so hard that his wings were struggling to build on the current to take him away from the infernal uproar.

_"Go back, Al. They need you."_

He tried to resist, but his body refused to listen to him. Some mist licked his nose and he found himself gliding in circles above the battle.

_"What am I doing here? This isn't what Dad ..."_

_"This is your place, Albus. Look. They will die if you don't help them. You must act on, little one. You have to be strong. You have to attack the Anghenfil if you want this war to end."_

Albus choked. The dragon's tail was furiously beating the air as if to scatter off the stars.

_"I can't. I'm not... I'm just..."_

_"A child? Yes, you are, little one. But this is your destiny. Go, you can save them all."_

The night was wailing, flames were crackling over the sea and something huge, black and powerful, was spreading its wings over the ridge. It had a long neck in armor, topped with steel horns, and fury was burning in its opalescent eyes.

_"You need to attack him, Albus. You have to kill him to end its hold over the men and over his kin."_

_"NO!_ You – _you__ can to do it. You're a dragon! Don't make me do that! I... I don't want to be you, I don't want to become... like him."_

He was cold now.

He felt betrayed, dirty, abandoned.

His mother had begged the escort who had come to Hogwarts to take them to the train station: "he's only a child, you don't have the right to do this. Al, tell them you don't want to go. Show them you can't morph!"

But he had done it, because his father had nodded sadly, as if hiding would have served no purpose, and his mother had paled and started to cry.

Now Albus wanted to nestle in his mother's arms, like before, like when no one asked him to be a man.

_"I didn't choose!"_

_"__Yes. You did. When our hearts became one that day, you did, Albus. It was _you_ who__ woke me up in the gallery and it was _you_ who__ had called me in the grove of snow-covered trees. This is _your_ will."_

_"Why?__ Why would I want that? I never wanted to be different!"_

_"__But you wanted to be strong. You wanted to protect the ones you love. You were ready to give everything for them. From the beginning. And until the end."_

Sparks were twirling up to the stars and the battle's echoes seemed distant, muffled. The dragon whirled, as if to observe what was happening down below.

_"From the beginning._

_And until the end."_

The night breeze ruffled his silky black fur.

_A little boy__ was trudging in the snow, wet and shivering, hurrying to the grove of trees where he had left his plush toy._

_A man__ in a large black cloak was barging into a child's bedroom and raising his wand dreadfully._

_A hand__ was dangling a pair of round glasses above his crib and he could hear a giggle full of tenderness and emotion, a voice that filled him with trust and happiness almost impossible to fathom._

Albus was no longer struggling. The peace that was now coming over him was like a caress.

He smiled and his golden-split emerald eyes closed gratefully.

_"__I remember your name now."_

_"I was waiting for you."_

He spread out his wings and dived into the battlefield.

* * *

oOoOoOo

* * *

Terrence was running down the slope, his wand in his hand, jerking up his glasses on his nose. Wendy was ahead of him, to the right, and the flames gnawing at the mountain were casting red highlights in her long brown hair tied in a ponytail. Scorpius was running behind, on the left, an arm protecting his perspiring forehead.

They did not know which one of the three of them had jumped first in pursuit of the dragon.

Colchis was following closely, his tall and massive silhouette jumping from rock to rock with flexibility, gaining ground. Lizzie had remained in the cave with Teddy and had finally stopped calling after them in vain.

The teenagers reached the plain before being caught up by the Auror and the battle suddenly flared in front of them. The ground was cracked open, fire was crackling in the trees and the tumult of voices suddenly filled their ears like the roar of a waterfall.

They had no time to think whether to take cover or run boldly in the middle of the field. The shouting, the heat of the flames, the crunching noises of spells exploding on all sides, the choking smoke, the adrenaline gushing in their veins and making them a bit dizzy – everything was blurry and exhilarating.

There were men dressed in horrible helmets shining in the glow of the fire and they were almost in melee with the Aurors whose faces were glistening with sweat.

_But no__ dragon. Nowhere._

A blue lightning grazed Terrence's temple, and something banged near him. He dived behind a rock and scratched his hands and elbows, but did not let go of his wand.

_Expelliarmus__. Expelliarmus. Expelliarmus._

_Everything will be fine__ as I long as I remember this spell._

Something shook the ground and Terrence stepped back against the cold granite, feeling his leather armor scraping against the ruggedness.

He leaned to take a look beyond the rock and Wendy bumped against him suddenly, sending them both rolling in the muddy hollow.

\- "What's that spell that reduces everything to pieces?" she gasped, straightening up. She had grass in her hair and blackish marks on her cheeks. "I should have listened better in class. I need to blow them up if I want to go through... have you seen Al?"

They scrutinized the dark sky above the flames – but there was no one to see.

\- "And Scorpius?"

\- "I lost him on the way", managed to stammer Terrence. "Er... _reducto_. The spell. _Reducto_, that's the one."

\- "Thanks", Wendy muttered, and she slipped out of the rock's protection, bowing her head.

The sound of her running steps disappeared into the battlefield din, then Terrence heard something metallic explode and assumed she had been talking about the ships' dump.

His eyes sought Scorpius but did not spot him. Instead he saw the body of an Auror who was spinning on himself before crashing like a disjointed puppet. Another spell blasted against the rock and sparks showered him. He barely felt the burns, busy trying to find a way to advance to the sea.

_Why did you leave the cave__, Al? What did you _feel_? Did they call you? Are they controlling you? And where the hell are you now?_

A roar swept over the battle, so strong he felt as if his eardrums were going to be torn. A cold sweat trickled between his shoulder blades, to the bottom of his back.

_What was that?__ Merlin's beard, _what_ was that?_

A shadow covered the rock, and he cowered down, glancing despite his fear in between his folded arms.

A gaping maw was towering him, dribbling its foul breath over the camp. He saw giant fangs, almost as big as him, but it was not the scariest thing. The beast's walking was shaking the ground. It raised its head and its long neck caparisoned with metal. Its oval eyes had no irises, as if they were only filled with hot red liquid. It was searching the surrounding area, unaffected by the spells ricocheting on its black scales.

Terrence felt his legs wobble.

_The dragon._

_The dragon from my childhood, from the tales' book, the Boggart, my nightmare..._

_The Anghenfil._

He put his hands over his mouth to stifle a cry of terror and realised he had stopped breathing.

The beast sniffed at the air, then moved to the left. Pebbles bounced slightly near Terrence's foot. Black spots were dancing before his eyes and the din of battle was fading away.

\- "Terrence!" barked a nearby voice, and somebody clutched his shoulder. "Get out of here! NOW!"

He staggered, close to faint. The dragon's back was becoming increasingly blurred...

\- "SWANSON! _Aguamenti_!"

Icy water jumped at his face and he startled awake. He was sheltered under a ripped tent pan hung on a pillar from which hung striped eels. Scorpius was in front of him, looking furious. He had a bleeding gash on his brow and a burst lip.

\- "Wake up, you dolt!" He fumed. "Wendy is almost inside. Go help her!"

Terrence blinked, his dripping hair already almost dry in the furnace of battle.

\- "Inside what?" he stammered.

\- "The camp, nitwit! Come on, hurry up! What are you, a genius or an oyster? GO!"

Scorpius swung him to the right direction and fiercely hurled him forward, then threw himself back into the melee, as if it was natural for him to cast combat spells without slowing down to breathe.

_Maybe he__ learnt to duel..._

_Maybe__ I should take some lessons too..._

Terrence's brain felt foggy as his feet wadded painfully toward the big transparent bubble.

He stopped behind an upturned yacht and peered again at the sky. His eyes were stinging, red-rimmed because of the smoke. He was struggling to keep his eyelids open, felt like if he'd rubbed them, they would tear off like old paper.

\- "Terrence!" someone yelled and he avoided just in time the curse that crashed into the yacht.

Without thinking, he jumped aside, casting a spontaneous _Expelliarmus_ without looking back. There was a loud crack and a cry of pain, then someone grabbed his shoulders.

\- "Well done!"

It was Albus' father and Terence felt a whiff of intoxicating joy fill him up when he met the proud gaze of the man, as if it were his own father congratulating him.

For a moment only, then the green eyes behind the glasses turned hard, a mixture of fear and anger.

\- "What are you doing here? Why aren't you with the others?"

They crouched together to avoid another blast.

\- "Al b-became a d-d-dragon and he flew off", Terrence stuttered, with the horrible feeling that this was his fault and he should have taken better care of his friend.

Harry instinctively looked up, scanning the smoke-filled night.

\- "I don't see him", he panted.

\- "I'll find him", blurted Terrence whose heart had somehow calmed down a bit. "I promise."

Harry hesitated, then nodded.

\- "Okay."

The trust in his voice made Terrence wonder if he had become a man, right now, on this battlefield.

Harry straightened up, waved his wand and with no audible word, drilled lightning around them. He darted to the left and disappeared into the curtain of flames and shadows. Four or five men with grimacing masks followed him immediately, jumping over the remains of incandescent boats.

Terrence carefully looked around before rushing to the magical bubble protecting the camp. He stumbled on a corpse, glimpsed at two staring open eyes which made his hair stand up. He tried to forget them, his hands clutching his wand, looking everywhere.

_Oh please, let Wendy be okay..._

_And Scorpius..._

_And the others…_

He gasped, feeling bile rising in his mouth at the thought that maybe...

\- "Terrence! This way!"

Wendy was waving at him. He ran to her, fell flat belly next to her under the mossy rock where she was hiding.

\- "I need a broom!" she whispered, pointing at the intact tents inside the magical bubble.

_You're__ alive..._

He breathed in deeply, trying to ease his ribcage that rattled against the ground as if his heart was trying to escape.

\- "I _need_ to fly, d'you understand, Terri?" vehemently implored the girl. "I can't beat them from the ground, I'm too clumsy. _Please_... help me..."

Terrence had somehow managed to regain control of his frayed nerves. He took off his glasses and wiped them on a miraculously still clean corner of his sleeve. They were smeared with brimstone and mud blobs.

He pointed his wand at the magical bubble.

\- "_Accio__ broom_."

\- "I tried that already", Wendy winced.

He noticed she wasn't holding her wand, but a large piece of wood with a nail at the extremity.

\- "What have you done with your w..."

\- "In my pocket", interrupted the girl. "I prefer a good bat. D'you think the barrier prevents them from coming out?"

Her gray eyes were sparkling in the glow of the flames casting shadows on her face, sculpting her delicate features like those of a woman.

\- "Terrence, we _need_ to help him. He wasn't in his normal state. Do you think they're controlling him? Charlie Weasley said the other dragons were obeying to the aphalune..."

\- "The _Anghenfil_", Terrence corrected absent-mindedly. He fumbled in the dark, found Wendy's hand and squeezed it. "Don't worry. Al's stronger than that."

Saying it aloud helped him to convince himself.

_He's__ half human. He shouldn't..._

_Why__ was his ear bleeding? Is…_

An irate caterwaul cut in the course of his thoughts, bristling a chill on his neck.

\- "It's him!" Wendy giggled as if she was delirious.

And suddenly they saw _him_.

Looming in the maelstrom of smoke, flames, spells bursting in bright colors – diving into the tumult of cries of pain and menacing shrieks, his fangs bared and his wings spread open, his emerald eyes reduced to the thin golden split.

The furry dragon brushed the ground, spewing a wisp of blue ice that blasted off a ship, then spurred into the sky before twisting on himself and returning at full speed toward the fighters.

The stupor that had gripped everyone cleared and a squall of curses gusted towards the dragon. He easily dodged it, swirled gracefully, came back growling with fury.

His spade-shaped tail was sweeping behind him, knocking off debris of rocks, and his wings were billowing like black sails. He was dangerously close to the ground then the next second like a comet across the night sky, evaporating into the smoke like an invisible threat.

\- "They're confused", said Wendy excitedly. "Look, it's a mess! The Aurors are regaining grounds!"

Terrence wondered _what_ grounds, since MacFusty's supporters did not seem interested in the bubble that protected the camp.

From scraps they had heard, they knew the Aurors were only trying to get hold of the rebel leader. They were not taking prisoners.

\- "Where're the dragons?" Wendy suddenly asked worriedly. "Al's giving them a trashing, but..."

As if in response, the horned head of the steel caparisoned dragon reappeared on the ridge, followed by another figure scarcely less monstrous. They set their horrible red eyes on the black fur dragon.

Wendy sat up so suddenly that her head hit the stone ledge of their refuge.

\- "AL! _Ouch_!"

She squinted, rubbing the painful spot, close to tears.

\- "That must've hurt", sighed Terrence who thought himself horrible for having found it comical. "You okay?"

\- "M'fine", Wendy groaned.

She crawled out from under the rock to run again in the battle's direction, her made-up bat whooping above her head, bellowing with all the strength of her lungs.

\- "GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE YOU MORONS!"

It looked like she was taking assault upon the opposing team after a _Quidditch_ match against Ravenclaw. Wendy was a notorious bad loser.

\- "Here!" shouted someone.

Terrence rushed behind Wendy and managed to grab her by the waist and to roll to the ground with her. Several spells exploded above them, like fireworks. A nail in a wood beam slashed his cheek, his knee slammed into something hard and white hot pain flared up in his head.

Shadows with grimacing masks closed up on him, he glimpsed huge black wings unfurling in the furnace, then he lost consciousness.

* * *

oOoOoOo

* * *

When he opened his eyes painfully, he was still lying on the muddy ground in the open grass field. He felt chilled to the bone, to the point the pain in his knee seemed distant, numb.

The sky above him was white and the last stars were dying away.

It was dawn.

He pushed on his elbows to sit up, shook his head to clear his confused thoughts. Everything was quiet, except for the hiss of embers dissolving in the mist and the plaintive cry of a gull flying over his head.

He was alone.

_Ah__. No, someone was coming over._

_A man__ with a long dark cloak, who was carrying something in his arms._

_He was carrying a teenager__ whose arms and legs were dangling limply, as if he was asleep._

_Or__ dead._

* * *

**_TBC_**

* * *

**_Next chapter: DON'T THEY REMIND YOU OF SOMEONE, RON?_**


	24. Don't they remind you of someone, Ron?

**DON'T THEY REMIND YOU OF SOMEONE, RON?**

* * *

Ron laid Scorpius' lifeless body on the bed, then stepped back to make way for Lizzie. His shoulders were shaking and he could not take his eyes off the boy covered in blood.

\- "He s-s-saved m-my l-life", he stammered. "I ha-a-adn't seen that b-bloke and he p-pushed me out of the way. He took the burst and..."

\- "Any idea what spell it was?" interrupted the woman whose wand was cutting the leather tunic into strips to better see the extent of the injury.

\- "I... I don't know, I didn't..."

The hospital was buzzing with arrivals of Aurors supporting each other. The acrid smell of _Dittany_ mingled with the spicy scent of _Murtlap Essence_ and various potions were bubbling in pots by the window. Someone pulled a white curtain on a rod which rattled, grunts of pain crisscrossed with exclamations of relief, yet Ron heard no sound.

Scorpius' haggard face and his lips tinged in blue were haunting him as he relived the scene.

It was almost dawn. The night was fading and the white sky was painting things in pale shades. Drops were dripping down his face and he was tired to the point his movements were automatic.

_Nigel on the left, Aretho to the right, the Scott brothers and the young Geoffrey Manchester... _he mechanically counted the Aurors still standing around him - his men, his teammates, his family.

Lifting his wand, muttering incantations, he spinned on himself in a dizzying slow-motion, fiercely hanging onto his desire to survive, to see Hugo and Rosie again.

_Arresting the old MacFusty wasn't a priority anymore. It would be enough to hold on, even for just a few more minutes, then the dragons would retire and with them this hellish army. And then he would be able to rest..._

He stumbled on a piece of metal – scrap from these pesky boats or maybe one of the Scaly's helmets - lost his balance and heard the lightning crack of a spell.

_Ah._

_Too late._

For a split second, he thought he was going to die and felt perfectly calm. Then someone hurled into his shoulder and threw him to the ground with a muffled groan.

He heard a cry of pain - _a child's cry that chilled him_ \- then the next moment, the blond teenager he had carefully avoided so far collapsed next to him, his face splashed with the blood gushing from his shoulder...

\- "Ron. _Ron_, I asked you a question."

Harry's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Ron shuddered, back to reality in the noisy and busy hospital.

Lizzie was done undressing the boy. The dragon skin tunic, torn and soaked in blood, was crumpled on the floor. Scorpius' chest, pale and thin, was gleaming in the light of the lantern hanging above the bed. Ron gasped.

The collarbone had ripped through the skin and Scorpius' arm was a heap of bruised flesh.

Lizzie mopped the blood with a cloth and hastily looked around her. Her rolled up sleeves and her apron had turned pinkish.

\- "Where's the _Dittany_ gone again?" she snarled.

Harry shoved Ron to the side to grab the little bottle on the cart and gave it to the woman who was pushing up her glasses on her nose with her forearm. She was not wearing her hat and gray locks were loose from her bun.

\- "I think his arm got more or less splinched", she winced. "It had to be a Blasting Curse or a Severing Charm - and at close range, even. This is serious, but he'll be fine, Ron. Now get out of here and go help the others!"

Harry nodded and dragged away Ron who still seemed in shock.

\- "I wanted to let his father die in the _Room of Requirement_..." muttered the red-haired man whose shoulders slumped down miserably. "And _him_... he saved my life."

\- "That was a long time ago, Ron. It has nothing to do with what happened today", his best friend said quickly, frowning. "Come along, we must find the other children."

The pleading note in his voice triggered something in the fuzzy brain of the Auror.

The idea that his nephew could be somewhere in the plain in the same state as Scorpius electrified his weary body and he hurried out of the tent.

\- "Lieutenant! You... ha. Sir, your son..."

Harry felt his heart sink to the bottom of his guts like a stone. He slowly turned toward the voice and a cold sweat beaded on his hairline.

Darren, the Auror who was disfigured, was coming to them. Rain glistened on his long brown cloak. He was carrying in his arms the lifeless body of Albus.

\- "God..." breathed Ron, stopping abruptly. "Is he…?"

Harry rushed forward. He took his son in his arms and cradled the boy's lolling head against his shoulder.

Albus' black curls were tangled on his forehead, his cheeks were ghastly and smeared with mud and sulfur, but apart from a gash on his nose, he seemed unharmed.

\- "He is not hurt, just fainted", confirmed Darren in a deep voice filled with awe. "That young dragon put an end to the fight and when the demon beast collapsed, it flew a few meters before crashing - exhausted, I'd say. It tumbled down the slope and by the time we got there, it had turned into a child again."

His only eye lit up with pride.

\- "The bravest child I've ever seen."

\- "I know", Harry choked.

He held Albus closer to him, overwhelmed with gratitude. Retrospective fear was turning his legs into jelly and he was glad to feel Ron's hand supporting his back.

\- "Colonel Potter!"

Aretho was waving at them, molded in her armor and looking even more attractive than the day before with her caramel skin shimmering from rain and perspiration, her dreadlocks pinned up with a red feather and her tempting cleavage. She was helping Wendy who was stumbling, in a daze, dragging behind her a piece of wood. Colchis was walking along, carrying Terrence on his back like a mama koala. The teenager with glasses seemed seriously shaken up and his left leg was strapped with two bits of scrap metal and some ripped up fabric.

\- "Those two are in one piece", announced Aretho, flashing her white teeth in a wide grin. "Well, Swanson's a little banged up, but he'll be fine."

She gave an enthusiastic slap on the shoulder of the boy who groaned involuntarily.

\- "Well done, kids! You survived baptism of fire!"

Her features drawn by fatigue, Wendy pulled away from the arm that held her standing straight and staggered to Harry.

\- "Al?" she croaked worriedly.

\- "He's fine", said Darren catching her gently before she'd collapse. "He's just worn-out."

Harry nodded.

\- "You all are", he added. "Everybody is. Wendy, you're not hurt, are you? Terrence, you okay? Let's have a look at your leg."

He went back inside the hospital and carefully placed Albus on an empty bed at the back of the tent. He covered the boy with a soft blanket and kissed his forehead.

\- "Sleep well, my son. Dream of nothing. You fought like a lion... I'm so proud of you..."

He drew the curtain and walked away before the tears welling up in his eyes overflowed. He must have been even more tired than his painful joints were saying.

He locked eyes with Teddy who was lying in the row in front of him and gave a short grin, squeezing his godson's ankle. Then he slalomed in between the beds, greeted an Auror who was extracting bursts of rock and metal from his thigh with his wand, his face (almost) impassible. Harry smiled at the Scott brothers who were coating each other with _Murtlap Essence_, acknowledged the grateful look of Dean whose head was wrapped in a thick bandage, and whom he had saved from being devoured the night before. Three men were unconscious, with severe burns, and a fourth was babbling incoherently, spluttering some sort of white puree. Bowls of steaming repugnant potions were travelling on their own in between the rows. Nigel was sitting on a stool next to a dead body covered with a white sheet and had buried his face in his hands. Harry stopped just enough time to squeeze his shoulder with compassion, then went to the corner where Hermione was busy uttering a number of mid-toned words that sounded like insults.

\- "You okay?" he asked Wendy who was waiting, sitting in socks on a bed, wrapped in a blanket.

The girl nodded. Her mouth was slightly open as if she was unable to close it completely. She was blinking, and startled sometimes, as if she was drowsing and waking up alternatively.

\- "You should lie down", suggested Albus' father, amused.

She shook her head, pointed her chin to the curtain that hid the next bed from them, and behind which was moving Lizzie's shadow.

\- "I'm waiting... to know 'bout Scorpius..."

Terrence, who was anxiously watching Hermione who was checking on his swollen knee, lifted his blue eyes for a moment.

\- "Is he going to be okay?"

Harry nodded reassuringly.

\- "Yes, of course."

He took the boy's glasses and wiped them on a corner of the curtain before putting them back on Terrence's nose.

\- "Everything will be alright. You guys were amazing."

\- "Really?" Wendy asked sleepily.

The man smiled and sat down next to her on the bed. She snuggled against him instinctively, as would have done Lily, and yawned widely.

Harry smiled again to Terrence whose face was still strained. He was obviously trying to hold back his tears and looked about to crumble to pieces.

\- "Do you remember what I told you during our first class in _Defense Against the Dark Arts_?" he asked gently, over the bushy hair of the woman who was applying ointment on the knee. "It's _normal_ to be afraid. What's important is not running away and doing what we know to do, what we have to do – with all our strength. You never backed down, Terrence Swanson."

Hermione had stopped working while he was speaking. She waited until the boy had nodded silently, wiping off with his sleeve the tears now overflowing down his cheeks, then got up.

\- "All right", she announced. "The swelling should decrease by tonight, provided you do not put any weight on that leg."

She took the wand tucked behind her ear and waved it towards the scrap metal bits left on the ground. They stood up, turned into crutches, and she handed them to Terrence smiling.

\- "And now, off to bed. I'll give you both a potion for dreamless sleep, just in case..."

She paused and laughed.

\- "Well, I reckon someone won't need it."

Harry cocked his head to look at Wendy who was already fast asleep, her mouth still half-open, drooling a little on the black coat of the Auror, her hand clutching the man's sleeve.

Lizzie lifted the curtain that separated them from Scorpius' bed and Terrence jumped.

\- "How is he?"

The woman's body was hiding the injured boy, but her stained apron was enough tmake you want to puke and, more worrying, was the wan face of Ron sitting on a stool on the other side, staring at Scorpius.

\- "He'll be better tomorrow", said Lizzie briefly, letting the curtain fall. She glanced at them, then frowned. "Potter, _why_ do you always come back from a fight with a bloody nose? Come over at once."

Harry chuckled. He was feeling a little dizzy and swayed a bit when he stood up after carefully putting Wendy's head on the pillow.

Hermione put her hands on her hips and twitched with disapproval.

At the same time, Skyler popped his head at the entrance of the tent.

\- "Charlie Weasley is dealing with the dead dragon", he told Harry after casting a glance towards Ron and deciding grimly that it was useless to try to catch his attention. "The... those who fell last night were also gathered in one place."

Terrence shuddered.

The empty eyes of the corpse danced for a moment before his eyes. But they quickly dissipated when Harry put his hand on his shoulder, while addressing the Auror.

\- "Very good. Thank you, Skyler. Since the call is over, I want everyone to rest, now. See you at eleven at HQ to prepare for tonight's clash."

The man answered with a quick nod and disappeared.

Lizzie snorted and patted the back of a chair near the shelf with an imperious finger.

\- "Here, Potter. Sit. How come you managed to be the last to get treatment - _again_?"

Hermione gently lifted Terrence's leg onto the bed and helped him lie down, propping his knee on a pillow. She made him drink an oozing potion and tucked a blanket on him, before unfolding another one which she used to cover Wendy. She lingered a moment, tenderly pushing back a lock of brown hair from the girl's face, then gathered on the cart ointments and compresses, the empty cup and the remnants of Dittany and Muggle dressings with a sigh.

Terrence was already asleep when she disappeared from his sight. The last thing he had heard was the deep voice of Harry arguing that he did not want cotton _or_ algae to be shoved up in his nostrils.

* * *

oOoOoOo

* * *

Charlie was watching the beast's body burning in the tall blue flames. He didn't seemed affected by the sizzling of grease and the noise of the scales bursting in the heat. His arms crossed, he was gazing at the night more than at the magic pyre.

No doubt that there was no other alternative. Where the Aurors had failed for days and days, the dragon had succeeded in a few hours.

Toothless' arrival upon the battlefield had confused the enemy at first. MacFusty's supporters, stunned, had watched him tackle the first monster like in slow motion. The furry little dragon had grabbed the neck of one of the creatures, biting and clawing on it like an angry cat hanging from the throat of a lion.

The Anghenfil was nowhere at that time and Charlie felt his sweat stick his shirt to the skin of his back when the cold wind rose on the plain.

_Fortunately._

The massive lizard had fought back ferociously. Pinned down by its heavy metal armor, it had roared, its wings flapping and billowing, and swept its tail to get rid of the opponent circling nimbly around him with bright green eyes like comets in the burning night.

When the beast, its blood dripping from multiple injuries, had taken to the smoky sky, Charlie had thought Albus would flee. The fur dragon was exhausted and his wings were struggling to keep him away from the terrible maw of his enemy.

But Toothless had given everything in a last effort and the Hebridean Black had finally fallen heavily to the ground, bellowing in desperation.

Troubled, Charlie closed his eyes for a moment.

The other two dragons had not intervened despite their heartbreaking trumpeting and Bercelak MacFusty's favorite had only watched the battle from the crest on which it had perched like a nightmarish swan.

_They were hurting._

_They weren't free, and neither were the men who were attacking the Aurors as if they truly believed in this chimerical empire._

_Something was wrong. Something wasn't fitting. Something grisly was lurking in the shadows._

He opened his eyes and watched the embers gnawing at the bones. For a few more minutes, the skeleton still looked like a sleeping dragon, with its curved wings and its neck softly bent, then a spark crackled and the lonely grim figure turned into nothing more than smoke and a whirlwind of ash.

Charlie was feeling sick thinking of what must have felt Albus.

_He must have heard the dragon's weeping long before it had died._

_And he had surely understood its pain._

But still, Toothless had given the last blow.

* * *

oOoOoOoOo

* * *

When he came out of his meeting with the Aurors, Harry only wanted to go back to the hospital and drop on the bed next to Albus', to give in dear sleep while gratefully contemplating his safe and sound son. His morning nap he (_one hundred and ninety-five unfortunate minutes_) had been anything but enough rest.

But there was always someone to ask him a question, to suggest an action he approved in the end, like surveying the hills, overseeing training - or deciding what to do about food.

\- "Okay, you can go, but be back before tea", he told Hermione who was again wearing her pink woolen jumper.

She had managed to wash her hair and her long brown curls fluttered in the wind coming from the sea. She nodded and took the reins of the pony.

\- "Try to snatch something other than _Fish &amp; Chips_, this time", pitched in the oldest of the Scott brothers. "We're growing fat!"

Hermione gave him a wry look, half-closing her eyes like a fox.

\- "Oh no, I had another idea", she sneered. "I thought I'd stop at the pub and ask them to pack me some _Haggis_."

There were protests all around and someone pinned the young man under his armpit to knuckle-shampoo his head.

\- "Herm-i-own, don't do that, I beg of you! I'd rather eat something cooked by Skyler", pleaded Aretho.

The nickname reminded Harry of distant days and he cast a thoughtful glance toward the hospital: Ron had not left the place since dawn.

Wendy was sitting in front of the dining tent with Darren who was showing her how to make making a bludgeon similar to his, transforming her wand like Hagrid had done with his umbrella when he was not allowed to use magic. The girl looked up when Hermione was hoisting herself on the pony's back and stood up hurriedly. Putting her hands behind her back to give herself a casual attitude, she came closer. Her cheeks were somewhat rosy.

\- "Do you want to go with her?" Harry asked – he had seen the whole move.

Wendy's face brightened.

\- "Yes, please", she said shyly.

Hermione looked her up and down suspiciously.

\- "Are you sure you'll be fine? Did you rest enough?"

The teenager strongly nodded.

Hermione finally smiled and held out her hand to help the girl onto the saddle behind her.

\- "Okay, then."

Harry watched the pony go off and sighed deeply, then he firmly walked to the infirmary, knowing he probably would not sleep for the rest of the day.

He slipped inside, drew the curtain and met Lizzie's gaze.

\- "Where's Terrence?" he asked quietly, trying not to disturb the wounded.

She chinned to the back of the tent. Harry nibbled his lip. He walked cross the dormitory and slowly approached the bed where Albus was still sleeping.

He had not woken up yet, but he seemed peaceful and that was enough to reassure his father.

Terrence was sitting on the next bed, his crutches leaning against the mattress, looking very gloom. Harry walked up to him silently.

\- "Come", he whispered. "I've got a job for you."

He supported the boy to Scorpius' bed and helped him settle into the stool he had turned into a chair with a ramp for the boy's leg to be positioned comfortably.

\- "I want you to keep an eye on him for a while", Harry muttered, gently but firmly.

Terrence nodded, not taking his eyes off Scorpius who was breathing heavily, his fever breaking in large drops on his face twisted in pain. He was oscillating in between sleep and consciousness and often moaned involuntarily, like a child lost in nightmares.

Ron did not dare to reach out and pat the valid shoulder to soothe him. Scorpius looked so much like his father, it was like seeing Malfoy lying there, panting, suffering... The boy had cracked open an eye at some point. His glassy gaze had had trouble focusing on anything specific at first, but then it had locked on Ron.

\- "Why did you save me?" had slurred the Auror.

A strange smile had pinched the pale lips of the teenager - and the resemblance to Draco had accentuated, unbearable. Then he had grunted in pain.

\- "Seemed to be… the right thing… to do... We're… on the same… side..."

He had not said "because I owed you one, Weasley" or "did you thought I'd let you to die like you wanted to let me?" or any scathing retorts that Ron had expected.

There was no bitterness in this dove gray eyes. No soul-gnawing past or controversial ulterior motives. Just typical Malfoy irony and an innocence that reminded Ron of Hugo.

Scorpius had slipped again into unconsciousness after that. He was very weak. And the red-haired man had kept chewing his fists, not realizing that the hours were passing.

He flinched when Harry put his hand on his shoulder.

\- "Come with me", ordered his best friend in a low voice.

Ron first tried to protest that the wounded boy should not left unattended, but then he locked eyes with Terrence on the other side of the bed, and met Lizzie's non-negotiable gaze.

So he stopped struggling.

It was broad daylight outside. The drizzle had stopped. It was perhaps three in the afternoon, or even later. He blinked. His muscles woke up painfully and ants biting his legs reminded him he had stayed too long in the same position.

\- "Come", Harry repeated, and Ron followed him obediently to the hilltop.

They sat in the grass in front of the sea, just some steps away from a place where the scorched ground was covered with ashes.

The waves lapping the shore and the steady sound of the surf had a calming effect on them. In a shy sunbeam, seagulls were squealing and fighting over fish scraps.

Ron breathed in deeply.

\- "Some kids, eh", he said after a moment.

Harry just nodded. He had pulled off a clump of grass and was fiddling with it thoughtfully.

\- "He's not Draco Malfoy, isn't he?" mumbled Ron.

\- "No, he's not."

The tall redhead bit his lip, emotion constricting his throat.

\- "We'll bring them back – _all of them_. Unharmed", he muttered hoarsely.

\- "Yes, we will."

Ron leaned back his head, savoring the smell of salt that stung the small scratches on his cheeks and forehead.

\- "Don't they remind you of someone, Ron?" Harry asked, his green eyes gazing at the sea.

His messy black hair was sweeping his round glasses.

His best friend snorted, amused.

\- "A trio that could not help but butt their noses in stuff that was none of their concern?" he suggested.

Harry grinned.

\- "That too, I suppose. I was thinking of a marauding quartet ready to risk their lives for a friend..."

There was a silence, filled with memories.

\- "Yeah", Ron finally said, still looking at the blue and peaceful sea. "But it won't end the same way."

His hand squeezed Harry's shoulder for a moment.

\- "Albus isn't Remus. The Ministry will eventually accept him. And there isn't any Wormtail among them. Just a fearless Lily and three lads who deserve her."

Harry did not reply immediately.

The foam on the waves was bubbling below, sparkling and fizzing against the rocks. The wind loaded with iodine swelled in the sleeves of both men. The sun was gently warming their bodies bruised by the battle of the day before.

_They were so young and so old already._

_Still the same, though._

Ron yawned, unable to help himself. He rubbed his angular chin, his fingers crunching in his red beard, and massaged the big dark bags under his eyes.

\- "I'm glad you're here with me, Ron", Harry said, still looking at the sea, his fingers absently playing with the grass.

Ron didn't say anything for a moment. Then he chuckled.

\- "I'm too."

* * *

_**TBC**_

* * *

**_Next chapter: Dragon's Gaze_**


	25. Dragon's Gaze

**DRAGON'S GAZE**

* * *

Something incredibly happy was bubbling inside Wendy's heart, like if a swarm of fluttering butterflies was hidden under her sweater. The ridiculous decorations hanging from the ceiling of the supermarket, the soppy song that was on the radio, the advertising interruptions made by someone who obviously did not know how to articulate, the strong smell of trouts mixed with the sweet scent of pastries, the used batteries bin, the vegetable shelves, the orange plastic bags and the hubbub: everything was _wonderful_.

She was walking next to Hermione, a hand on the cart, and occasionally let her gaze trail on their reflection on the frozen bank glass.

Their brown hair and their smiles were almost the same.

\- "I suppose we should _also_ take beans", Hermione muttered, checking her list. "They'd rather have only sausages, eggs and bacon, I know, but we will need something solid in our stomachs to hold all night long."

She took two cans on the shelf, then decided to get all the stock. They were a lot more people than just a family, after all.

\- "Are we going to cook roast?" Wendy asked, piling up two sacks of potatoes and a net of apples in the cart.

\- "Why not? Ron's very fond of it and he hates fish, that'd lift his spirits..."

Hermione realized she had answered more than she wanted and cleared her throat to get rid of the blushing of her ears.

\- "_Harrumph_. Lieutenant Colonel Weasley, I mean. He's such a boor, one would have thought that he wasn't a picky eater, but it's just the opposite."

She pushed the cart in front of her in a brusque gesture.

\- "Let's see... we need desserts. And chocolate."

Wendy followed her into the next aisle after thoughtfully weighing the leeks and turnips. She slipped behind the woman who was checking the different varieties of Cheddar, knitting her eyebrows.

\- "Darren quite likes cheese..."

Hermione rubbed the tip of her nose, crossing her arms. Wendy watched her a moment in silence. She did not want to miss a beat of the warm and soft feeling snuggled into her chest.

Tied to a utility pole, the pony was grazing outside, next to a couple of bikes and an old motorcycle. It had not taken very long to get to the village, even with the precautions taken by Hermione.

_Hominum revelio._

Wendy knew the spell quite well, now, after hearing it at every clod of earth. She had firmly held onto the woman's waist, her cheek resting against her back, breathing in the honeysuckle smell of the woolen pink sweater.

She wanted the ride for hours, but the pointed roofs covered with dark blue slates had appeared at the turn of the hill faster than expected. Clean walls, a flat road on which clanked the hooves of their pony, well arranged vegetable gardens, everything was perfect and peaceful in Glenegedale.

_You never could have imagined that war was raging just four or five miles to the south..._

An old man wearing a checkered cap had welcomed when they had dismounted: "Hey, isn't tha' the little missus from Killeyan campin'? How're these tourists doin' with the wild life? Is tha' your girl? Never thought you'd be ol' enough to have one this age! My, she's quite the pretty one."

Wendy had shot him a radiant smile before passing through the sliding doors.

_The old man was beautiful._

_The day was beautiful._

_The supermarket sticky floor was beautiful._

Hermione was pouting over on a bottle of milk.

\- "If we had a fridge, I'd have made some custard... Dean misses his sister's cooking."

Because they were both Muggle-born using words like "fridge", being there, wasn't not weird. It was one more thing they shared.

And Wendy did not want to break the moment, but the question came out of her lips before she could swallow it.

\- "The Head Auror... he's your husband, isn't he?"

She had carefully avoided the words "Rose's father".

\- "He _was_ my husband", corrected Hermione, looking away.

She focused on the yogurts shelf.

\- "But you're not fighting", noted Wendy, thinking about the sharp exchanges of her uncle and aunt over the Christmas turkey, each year.

\- "Ron is..." the woman began – then she stopped talking, frowning.

_Insufferable? A dollophead? Not the kind to bring personal matters to the battlefield?_

_He had been. But he wasn't anymore. But he still was…_

_Quick to say words he will later regret and slow to understand that he should have spoken up sooner? Clumsy, selfish and still eager to do his best in all circumstances? An adult man who always acted like a teenager in full hormonal confusion in the heat of the moment? A diligent father who tended to forget that fighting for the heart of his children's mother was never over?_

She breathed in deeply and put four chocolate mousse series in the cart.

\- "Ron and I are a perfect match in times of crisis - but it seems that we aren't able to refrain from arguing when the world is at peace", she gruffly explained.

Wendy nodded, but in fact, she did not understand. She wandered for a moment on Hermione's heels, silent, helping to fill the cart with food, lost in her thoughts.

A friendly nudge startled her and she realized they were at the checkout. She lifted her eyes and met Hermione's intrigued and sympathetic gaze.

\- "Do your parents often fight?" asked the woman, readjusting her small beaded purse on her shoulder - she had had to dig in it for several minutes before finding her Muggle wallet.

Wendy shrugged.

\- "No. Never. They don't see enough of each other for that."

The joyous feeling under her sweater was gone. Hermione did not insist. They loaded their shopping in plastic bags and left the supermarket. They were carrying so many things that Wendy thought they were never going make it to the electric pole where the pony was waiting.

Hermione cast a quick glance around, then opened her purse again and started to shove in it the bags one after the other, under the amazed eyes of the girl.

\- "_Extension Charm"_, explained the woman with an amused smile that suddenly gave way to a sad frown.

\- "Very useful when you need to quickly run away - or when you're shopping on _Oxford Street_ with your teenage daughter..."

She paused, closed her eyes for a moment, biting her lower lip.

\- "I miss Rosie... and Hugo... oh, if I..."

She opened her eyes and mistook Wendy's appalled face for something else.

\- "Oh, dearie... your mum's probably worried to death. She must miss you so much!"

Wendy took a step back.

\- "My mother passed away when I was two. I don't remember her", she said abruptly. "I don't think my father would notice if I disappeared, he works all the time. And my stepmother's got the twins, she's better off without me."

Tears welled up in Hermione's brown eyes.

Wendy gritted her teeth because even if she was craving for the woman to take her in her arms, she did not want her to do it out of pity. She stepped forward, picked up another shopping bag and dropped into the bottomless purse.

\- "It's a cool spell. I'm sure Terrence would love to learn it. He's always lugging around too much stuff, it'd be super helpful to him."

\- "Wendy..."

\- "It's weird to think we're Monday four o'clock in the afternoon", continued the young girl, forcing a light tone. "At this hour, if we were at Hogwarts, we'd be in class with Persnickety Pal... Seems like it was a century ago we were just students..."

Hermione swallowed hard.

She knew only too well that impression. She remembered vividly her younger self running away in an England devastated by Death Eaters, trying to achieve something impossible when she should have been at school working on her NEWT like any other student, if the world had been at peace.

She had thought no one would ever again experience such a feeling of injustice and helplessness after the fall of Voldemort.

\- "Was it... was it like that too, when you were at war at the time?"

She looked up, surprised Wendy had made the connection.

\- "On the radio", clarified the girl, chin gesturing towards the supermarket. "They say an oil slick caught fire near Islay last night. The Muggles have their own version of what's happening..."

Hermione nodded.

\- "Yes. There's a department in the Ministry of Magic that deals specifically with this kind of communications."

She hesitated.

\- "Wendy? Terrence told me you'd like to get your hands on a broom. We do have one, somewhere, although it's in poor condition, but I can ask Nigel to fix it if you'd like."

She smiled.

\- "Seems you're quite the _Quidditch_ player. Would you teach me? I'm no good at sports, though. I spent a lot of time reading during my studies and - not that reading is not a good thing, on the contrary, it's very important to read - but I'm thinking, I've been putting on weight lately and I'm still young so..."

Wendy grinned at the woman's mumbling. The late afternoon sun was caressing her face, sparkling on the carbuncle at her left eyebrow.

\- "I'd love to teach you", she said.

The sea wind was entangling her long brown curls and playing in Hermione's bushy hair.

The warm feeling had rekindled under her sweater.

* * *

oOoOoOoOo

* * *

Under one of the few trees that still had some leaves, sitting on a stool with his arms crossed, a frowning Harry was watching the Aurors who were training. He had not noticed his right foot impatiently tapping the ground.

\- "Can I sit here?"

He turned his head and smiled to the teenager leaning on his crutches.

\- "Of course", he replied, magically pulling over one of the straw-stuffed chairs from the dining tent.

\- "Albus woke up", said Terrence, sitting down. "But Charlie said he wants to talk to him alone for a short while", he hastily added, seeing the man make a move to get up.

He dropped the crutches beside him and pushed his glasses up on his nose.

\- "Scorpius is a little better. Mr. Weasley was with him, but Lizzie kicked him out a moment ago."

\- "Ah", said Harry.

His face wasn't betraying any thought.

\- "I can almost walk normally. I'll be totally fine by tonight", Terrence continued with a hint of his former enthusiasm. "If I had been treated by a Muggle doctor, I would have been tied to a bed for a week! It's _amazing_!"

Harry only grunted.

Experience had taught him that magic recovery from an injury did not speed up the long process of healing the trauma it had engendered.

\- "Wendy's not back yet?"

\- "Nope."

Terrence leaned more comfortably in the wobbly chair and watched the perfectly orchestrated training, the accuracy of the spells, the swiftness of the Aurors almost dancing as they dodged and tackled.

\- "Will we fight again tonight?"

\- "Yes", Harry said quietly.

The boy chewed the inside of his cheek for a moment, then straightened up.

\- "Why aren't you taking prisoners?"

Harry stared at him for a moment before answering.

\- "Because…"

He looked for a better way to phrase his words and found none. His green eyes so similar yet so different from Albus' finally met the blue eyes of the teenager.

\- "As soon as they're captured, MacFusty's men break one of their teeth and poison themselves. Without any hesitation", he said gravely. "Fanatics like that - or people subjected to a curse that forces them to do so - will not cease to fight as long as their leader's still free. This is why Bercelak is our target..."

He did not explain that making prisoners had led to MacFusty retaliating on the Muggles at the beginning of the conflict. According to Skyler and Darren, if they could get a hold on the old fool who had started this crusade, there might be able to negotiate with his eldest son.

But for this, it was necessary to overcome a major obstacle: the _Anghenfil_.

\- "We won't win unless we kill the dragon, isn't it?"

Harry sighed.

\- "Yes. We need to kill the dragon."

Terrence cast a glance toward the hospital and his shoulders tensed.

\- "It's all on Al, then", he whispered.

The sun was setting down. Their shadows and the tree's were stretching on the grass. It was cold again, and they shivered.

* * *

oOoOoOoOo

* * *

Charlie sat on the bed and wrapped his nephew's hands in his own to keep them from shaking violently.

\- "I'm sorry, Al..."

The teenager's eyes were staring at him like if they were hallucinating.

\- "You don't know, Charlie... you don't know..."

The boy's voice broke.

\- "He was crying so much... and it's my fault... I couldn't save him..."

Not so far in the hospital, Scorpius had opened his eyes. His fever was still high and he was taking in shallow breaths, but he was wide awake.

And in the dead silence of the tent, he could hear every single word – every single sob.

* * *

oOoOoOoOo

* * *

The Aurors were sitting in a circle. Some were chatting softly, others were content to watch the bonfire burning high and bright. Dean was playing a melancholic song on his guitar. Aretho was drawing figures from fairy tales in the flames with the tip of her wand, to the delight of the Scott brothers. Colchis was sitting cross-legged, very straight, his elbows resting on his thighs as if he was meditating. Dressed in a patchwork poncho, Lizzie was sipping her tea, holding her cup in both hands.

All were already dressed in their black breastplates and steel pauldrons. Shades of pink and gold were dying away in the vast sky above them. Only a few hours were left before dark.

Everything was peaceful.

Ron stepped over Nigel's shoulder and sat between Harry and Hermione. He had just brushed his teeth and smelled of mint toothpaste.

\- "So, _professor_, what's Hogwarts last gossip?" he asked in a jovial tone that he hoped was natural. "Has Neville finally declared his love to Luna?"

Harry grinned. He took a sip of coffee before answering.

\- "Oh no. You're outdated. If Neville marries someone, it'll be the school nurse, Hannah Abbot."

Ron opened big wide eyes.

\- "_Hannah Abbot_ as in that small girl from Hufflepuff with the round cheeks?"

\- "She's not _small_! Harry protested while Hermione rolled her eyes. "She's taller than me."

\- "Harry, it's not difficult to be taller than you", Ron sneered. "Your _wife_ is taller than you. _James_ is taller than you. And if Albus does a growth spurt like the one he did two years ago, he _too_ will be taller than you."

He paused to cast an affectionate glance at his nephew, who was sitting on the other side of the circle.

\- "By the way, Al's doing much better than_ both of us_ at the same age when it comes to girls."

Hermione giggled and Harry wondered if he was really pleased with this latest finding. It was bad enough having to worry about James' numerous conquests...

In front of them, Albus was pensively watching the fire.

Scorpius was on his left. The blond boy's expression reminded Harry a lot of Sirius. Malfoy's son had been allowed to get up, but he was still weak and they had wrapped him in so many blankets and shawls that he could barely see.

On Albus' right, Wendy was hidden behind Charlie's broad back, which explained why she had felt safe enough to put her cheek on the teenager's shoulder. Terrence was sitting a little farther, in between Teddy who was munching crackers – he was in much better shape than the day before and his hair was purple – and Darren who was wearing his cloak as if not to break the quietness of the moment.

Inevitably, despite the melody of the guitar, despite the tacit promise they had made, the conversations came back to the war.

\- "At least these damn dragons are so attached to their island that they would never leave", someone sighed. "Imagine if they had flown to London, taken the fight to the city..."

\- "I'd rather _not_ imagine the old MacFusty asking submission to Buckingham on behalf of the Anghenfil..."

\- "He really _is_ mad."

\- "He made the mistake of looking in the dragon's eyes", Charlie said in a slow, deep voice that brought total silence. "That is something one should never do. They can read to the bottom of your soul. And then, they change it."

His gaze was deliberately avoiding Harry's. Potter had stiffened in front of him.

\- "What d'you mean?" Skyler asked, putting a stop at his carving a piece of wood with a knife.

\- "Whatever is dark in Bercelak MacFusty's heart is controlled by the Anghenfil. You do not _tame_ a dragon. That's the first thing you learn when you start working in a reserve. They are beautiful, mysterious, ancient creatures, and you must not let them _look_ at you."

There was a heavy silence. Some of the men stirred uncomfortably, making the grass crunch.

Albus kept staring at the flames.

\- "What about _him_, then? What's he doing to us?" Skyler asked suddenly in a harsh tone, pointing at the boy.

\- "Al's not dangerous!" Wendy protested fiercely, sitting up.

\- "He never tried to control us!" Scorpius jerked in quickly, clenching his fists.

Charlie breathed in deeply. All eyes were on him in the tense silence.

The sky above them was slowly darkening.

\- "Have you never seen creatures or people spontaneously come to him? Or noticed that when he looks into your eyes - when you're very angry or scared or sad or lost - then you feel different? That is the dragon's gaze."

Terrence had turned pale.

\- "So... the elves?" he muttered.

\- "The elves were fascinated by Albus well before they realized who he was, because they were being attracted by his power", Charlie said firmly.

The flames crackled in the middle of the circle.

_In the Hogwarts Express, an eleven years old girl was deciding to open her heart..._

_Owls were flying into the Great Hall and coming to greet Albus even when there was no mail..._

_Fetloack was wringing his hands, repeating that he did not want be "looked at" by the Great One, regardless of the honor it meant to the elves..._

_Draco Malfoy was standing in the corridors of the school, feeling his wrath fade away with no apparent reason..._

Albus had not moved. He did not seem to have noticed the glances thrown at him, the whispers, the tormented faces of his three friends.

\- "I don't do it on purpose", he said at last, with a fragile voice.

Harry wanted to get up, to go across the circle to punch Charlie, but Ron stopped him.

\- "Wait", he mumbled.

\- "Of course you don't do it on purpose", Charlie said gently. "But when the dragon-phoenix gave his life to save yours, he also gave you a part of his heart. And of his powers."

\- "The ferret", Terrence murmured.

Charlie nodded gravely.

\- "And Teddy. And Scorpius. All getting better faster than expected."

Some Aurors blinked, not sure they understood what the boy meant.

\- "Dragons can't heal. They do not _talk_. They have no fur either. They're beings full of power and their gaze can change the color of a soul, but they are magical creatures – only _creatures_. They know their limits, but can never overstep them. They weep, but don't know comfort. They love, but can't forgive. They're brave, but won't ever be heroic. They feel pity, but don't understand compassion."

Charlie paused, choosing his words with care, aware the night was fast approaching and they needed to be ready.

\- "What you _are_, Al, it's much more than a boy who's half-dragon. What came to you in this form is a _different_ being. And he did not come by chance. He came because of what he saw _in you_."

The fire was shimmering in the green eyes of the teenager.

He seemed far away, even though he was sitting among them.

\- "Tonight, you can save us all. Men and dragons. It's a _choice_ you have to make."

\- "I know", Albus whispered.

Far above their heads, the first star was blossoming in the darkened sky. The Aurors now understood what was expected of them.

_Distract the enemy. Protect the child. Let him face alone the Anghenfil and break the spell of the dragon's gaze._

Harry closed his eyes.

_Why was history repeating itself again?_

An unbearable feeling was strangling his neck like a snake.

* * *

_** TBC**_

* * *

**_Next chapter: FROM THE BEGINNING AND UNTIL THE END_**


	26. From the beginning and until the end

**FROM THE BEGINNING AND UNTIL THE END**

* * *

A gray curtain of rain was falling on the island, turning the fires in columns of thick smoke.

The magic bubble that protected the camp was gone and several tents were down. Their fabric was caving in as it filled with water. Pans, blankets and other precious resources were sinking in the mud. The tree under which Harry had sat down to watch the training was now a black torch. The flames were burning, hissing on the scattered barricades that protected the Aurors from the fury of dragons.

Curses were blasting in the fading night, a roar of colorful and deadly sparks which mingled with groans, threats, calls.

Teddy was soaked and his shoulder was sending hot white flares of pain through his brain whenever he raised his arm, but he kept fighting, back to back with his godfather whose swollen face was almost unrecognizable behind his cracked glasses.

Scorpius was still standing, but only by miracle. His dripping blond hair was plastered to his forehead, his left arm was dangling limply along his body and a sarcastic grin had settled on his lips, but he was not ready to yield. In between two hexes, Ron glanced at him from time to time and a strange pride tightened under his scratched breastplate.

Terrence had the feeling his heart had moved to his knee and was beating there at a frantic pace. His voice was hoarse from casting spells with desperate obstinacy, his right eye was bloated and closed. He was stumbling behind Darren who was chasing after some rebels, like an indefatigable dark figure in his homespun cloak.

At the feet of the mountain, the body of one of two dragons lay panting, imprisoned in multiple silver chains, his maw sealed, fiercely guarded by Aretho and Charlie. Hermione pushed back her brown hair sticky with blood. Their plan had worked.

Dawn would come soon.

The Scott brothers were dead. So was Nigel. Dean's freckled cheeks were resting on the plowed dark earth, his blue eyes open like if they were staring at the broken guitar abandoned a bit further. Lizzie crouched beside him and closed his eyes, swallowing a sob, then hurried to an injured Auror who was moaning behind a fallen tent.

Skyler and Wendy, who had disappeared for a moment on the other side of the ridge, were coming back at full speed, leaning on their brooms, slaloming swiftly in between hills like if they were on a Quidditch pitch. They were much more in sync now than at the beginning of the evening and almost seemed to play with their attackers, like two swallows pirouetting above a lake.

Wendy's thighs, shins, forearms were hurting horribly and she was almost sure that if she'd tried to straighten up, her back would break with a sharp crack. But she refused to listen to her aches, forcing her muscles to overstep their limits, squinting to keep her eyes open and focused.

The rain was diluting the blood caked on Skyler's brow while he was bombarding the enemy, skimming above the battlefield, but he kept grinning ferociously because he was not about to slow down – impressed by the endurance and agility of the girl.

These four kids overthrew any notion of logical or appropriate. They were intelligent, dedicated, bold and brave to unconsciousness.

They were anything but what one would have expected them to be.

And Skyler was pushing back the thought that his son was a good for nothing, that if he had been there by accident or vanity, he would have been boastful, would have whimpered, tried to get attention or comfort, sought to protect his own butt and never proved useful.

But them...

_Scorpius Malfoy was fighting despite his obviously painful wound, never backing down._

_If it hadn't been for Terrence Swanson's brilliant idea, they would never have been able to complete the operation of capturing one of the younger dragons._

_Wendy Philips's audacity was breathtaking, she was undeniably born to fly on a broom and to handle a bat. Skyler never would have imagined you could use a wand that way._

_And Albus..._

Skyler leveled up the broom to take the curve at the end of the plain, slowing just enough time to glance at the sky full of dark clouds, before flowing back into battle.

Up there, Harry Potter's son was facing alone the Anghenfil.

* * *

oOoOoOoOo

* * *

The night was strangely clear above the dark swirling of mist, and the two intertwined silhouettes of the fighters were carved on it like an abominable ballet of Chinese shadows.

\- "Again!" shrieked the Anghenfil's rider hysterically.

The monster's jaws crushed the wing of the small black dragon and excruciating pain burst like fireworks in Albus' head, sending him sliding into a new vision.

* * *

_He was fifteen years old. His black hair fell in unruly locks over his green eyes..._

No, it was not him. It was his father.

_Harry was covered in blood, he could hardly see, he felt sick. He was terrified and yet he knew he could not back down, he could not escape, he had to fight._

_There was no other solution._

_Clutching his wand, he forced himself to get up with the help of the cold stone, and stepped on the soiled lawn of the cemetery to face Voldemort who was howling in cruel joy._

* * *

An echo of this sardonic laughter brought Albus back to reality. Spasms of pain were shaking him. He did not know who he was, what he was, where was the line between the conscience of the boy and the dragon's body.

He could feel the fetid breath of the beast, burning on his skin.

\- "Did you have enough yet?"

MacFusty's voice was cackling somewhere close.

The old man was leaning on the Anghenfil's neck, sitting in his steel saddle, and his blue bulging eyes were watching his prey with interest. The moon silvered the white tufts of hair over his ears and his long black cloak fluttered in the night, as if to scatter off the stars.

Suspended upside down, Albus tried to swallow. He _had_ to stay conscious. He could not give in... he _had to_... He struggled to keep his eyes open, but the red glare of the Anghenfil caught him again, sucking in thoughts, memories, doubts, fears, regrets of the humans around him, indiscriminately mixing truth and hope, painful pasts and irrational terrors and drowning the boy in another whirling of visions.

* * *

_A very young Hermione was tying a scarf around a tree trunk, stifling her tears, and then apparating away, holding hands with Harry._

* * *

_Ron... _no, it was not her uncle. It was James_. He was sitting under the willow by the lake of Hogwarts. "You're nothing", he said, carelessly playing with a snitch._

_He casually drove a hand in his untidy hair, a spark of defiance in his eyes, then turned, sneering, to his friends._

* * *

_Terrence was laying on the ground in a cave with crystal walls. His features were drawn, his long blond hair dirty, his lips bluish. He was not wearing his glasses. A dark red stain was spreading on his white chemist coat. A glimmering breath, like a glass dust, was coming off his mouth and someone was singing somewhere._

* * *

_Lizzie was begging her husband to stay, standing on the lawn in front of a brick house. The man curtly freed himself from her arms, got into a car and drove off without a look back. Lizzie closed her eyes, shame written all over her face. Onlookers were whispering. On the kitchen window, someone had spray painted the word "witch" in hideous yellow letters._

* * *

_In the Great Hall of Hogwarts, someone was jeering as Scorpius was stumbling on an unfriendly stretched leg and falling ungracefully with his plate. Then he was getting up, plastered with treacle pie and no one was coming to his help._

* * *

_A disappointed and angry looking Skyler was yelling on a teenager with receding chin and greasy hair who then left the room, slamming the door in the face of his father._

* * *

_Wendy was sitting on a flowery quilt and she was sobbing, her head buried in her arms holding her knees._

* * *

He tore himself from the images in a desperate effort, clawed in, bit, pushed off and slashed the dragon's jowls. The fangs of the monster barely quivered, tightening their grip on the black satin feathers gorging with blood. A bone snapped and Albus screamed in pain, while a new vision engulfed him.

* * *

_An old man was crying alone in the dark. He was leaning on a table covered with a white sheet and holding the hand of a young girl with milky skin who seemed to be sleeping._

_\- "No one will come, Father", said a young man hoarsely, stepping closer._

_\- "We have well served the ministry, Josiah", mumbled the old fellow, lifting his head. The moonlight bathed his wrinkled, pale, crying face - and with horror Albus realised it was Bercelak MacFusty. "All these years, we have kept the existence of the dragons a secret, erased Muggles' memories, guarded the Hebrides with our lives... they won't ignore us."_

_\- "It's too late, Father. She's no longer there."_

* * *

The wind sweeping under the wings of the monster threw ice droplets on the little dragon's muzzle and Albus came back to reality.

MacFusty was staring at him, yet his blue orbs, in their white globes streaked with blood vessels, seemed to contemplate something else.

Did he also see the images the Anghenfil was pulling like a string of nightmares_?_

_"He does not see anything. But he can feel it,"_ said a soft, deep voice to the question that had stealthily crossed Albus' feverish mind.

_"Dewis!"_ A sob choked the boy when he let himself be wrapped in the immaterial presence of the dragon from his childhood. _"You were here..."_

_"I won't leave you. I was and am still here, little one."_

_"I couldn't hear you anymore... I'm scared. It hurts... I just want... everything to stop."_

He felt like he was swirling down in darkness, alone, abandoned. The red eye of the Anghenfil was drilling power and suffering in his heart. He was losing the battle.

_"Hold on, Albus."_

He had no strength to free himself from the monster's jaws and he pitied the madman who laughed hysterically in the night. He did not want to _kill_ him. He could still hear the plaintive cries of the dragon that he had attacked the day before: a simple creature with no understanding of this war, struggling to stay alive, that did not control its violence and had not chosen to be there. And Albus had murdered it.

_"You were defending your people. You saved lives by doing that,"_ gently countered Dewis.

_"It wasn't him I should have attacked. The Anghenfil is rotten with hatred and cruelty. _He_ was my opponent. It's him I should have killed, to break his link with MacFusty."_

_"But you do not want to kill anyone, now."_

The stars were falling in a rain of fire around him. He wanted to touch them – they looked like petals floating on an ink sea. There was no more suffering, no more demonic laughter, no more sound, nothing.

_"MacFusty is an old man who's in so much pain he lost his mind, Dewis,"_ Albus murmured with infinite sadness. _"An old man who gazed too long in the eye of a dragon, who let it feed his bitterness and anger. I can't make him go back. I can't change the past. I'm not strong enough."_

_"You cannot change the circumstances, but you can decide what you'll do to face them. You have no power over what happens to you, but your choice belongs to you. This is what you have to remind him."_

_"I'll never make it!"_

The monster spread his wings, hovering. Its long neck rippled as if he was about to regurgitate. The old man leaned forward to better see the little fur dragon still trapped in the giant fangs. It barely moved, like a black cloth stained with blood.

Yet the Anghenfil was fidgeting nervously.

_"Someone gave his life. Someone wept. Someone forgave. You were born because of these three choices, Albus Severus Potter,"_ continued Dewis, his deep voice filled with love. _"You exist because Lily Evans reached out to someone nobody wanted and because due to this, a man sacrificed everything to protect another's child. You were born in the light, because your father decided to erase the past by giving you the name of Severus."_

The monster growled. It bared its fangs. Bercelak MacFusty shuddered. There was something like a song around him. Inaudible, yet powerful. Beautiful, yet terrifying.

And the body of the furry little dragon was slowly brightening as if all stars were gathering around him.

_"The world is a dark place, Albus. There will always be people eager to quench their thirst for power, their lust for revenge, their desire to own. It will be difficult and you may not be able to change the way people look at each other. The dragon's gaze gives you great power, Albus, but it's your heart that draws people to you. The light comes from you. You love. You love so much that you instilled life and hope, and that is what brings them to you."_

Albus thought back to the scene in the cemetery. He was sure it was a memory, not one of the unhealthy illusions of the Anghenfil.

_A memory of his father when he was his age._

_A memory in which, despite the fact all hopes were lost, despite the pain, despite his fear, he was standing up and facing evil._

_Perhaps this memory was the one Harry had wanted to share with him - if they could have spent together his fifteenth birthday..._

So he breathed in deeply, forgetting the pain waves wracking his body, and listened to the voice of the dragon, let himself be overwhelmed by the magic he had accepted, years ago, on top of a snowy mountain.

_"It is you who have given desire to live to the ferret. And it is you who enlightened the world of Wendy, who opened the door behind which was locked Scorpius, and who gave Terrence a goal. This is what you are, little one. From the beginning and until the end."_

Albus smiled.

And Lily Evans' green eyes, these eyes that had changed the course Severus Snape's life, the eyes that had faced the enemy of a world and defeated him - these eyes that reflected Albus' soul and that of a dragon named "choice" - opened and looked compassionately at the monster and the old man.

* * *

oOoOoOoOo

* * *

The last star disappeared and the sea wind dispersed the clouds. In the silky pink sky, a golden ray spread like an arrow and hit the ground, flooding the plain in pure light.

All wands lowered when the dragon fell into the shimmering shower of sun raindrops.

_Slowly, so slowly._

The Anghenfil crashed, making the ground shake. Its monstrous head crushed one of the last standing tents and its wings crumpled down with a frightful noise of sheet metal. Its tail waved a moment, like a long steel snake, then toppled heavily and did not move anymore.

The beast was holding in its jaws the broken body of Albus.

* * *

**_ TBC_**

* * *

**_Next Chapter: TEARS_**

* * *

**_Dear Guest,_**

**_I'm so happy you like this story! I hope it'll live to your expectations till the end! As for Ginny, she couldn't come over to the battlefield because all communications were cut after Harry, Albus and Charlie left for the Hebrides. I'm sure she wants to be with them… I've made up for all the bad things I dumped on her character (and on James Sirius) in the coming chapter. I hope you will enjoy it too – although using a word such as "enjoy" in that context might not be very appropriate… ahem. I'll let you be the judge of that._**

**_Thanks again for your reviews!_**

**_'Read' you soon!_**

**_Lia_**


	27. Tears

**TEARS**

* * *

Ginny numbly put down the letter on the table. She slowly went to the window, pulled the flowered curtain and gazed at the twinkling stars, pale and silent, far away in the inky sky.

She turned the latch, breathed in the night smell, the fragrance of the grass in the dark. A night bird called plaintively in the distance.

Everything was so peaceful.

She looked back at the cozy room. The candles' glints on the copper pans, the checkered tablecloth, the fresh peonies in a vase, the soft blanket on the couch, the books stacked on the round table.

She walked to the kitchen door, put on her old garden slippers. A red umbrella was leaning in a corner of the room, against the whitewash wall, next to the mat.

She opened the door, stepped onto the terrace, tightening her jumper around her shoulders.

Everything was so peaceful.

She tilted her head back, held a hand to her brow to search her favorite constellations. Red wisps of hair fluttered on her forehead in the night breeze.

Harry and the children used to put a blanket in the field over summer nights, and to watch the stars while gobbling crisps. The garden gnomes pranced around them, catching fireflies. James told jokes that made no sense. Lily giggled, a crystal clear sound in the vastness of the plain. Harry's deep voice mingled with their exclamations: he spoke of Firenze and of Muggle legends that made them dream. And Albus...

A small strangled noise.

Ginny did not realize immediately that it was coming from her throat.

She stood up, thrust her hands in her jumper's pockets, stepped in the weeds. The _Burrow_, on her left, stood in the night like a benevolent mushroom silhouette in the night.

Her eyes were hurting.

The house was lit behind her, cutting off her shadow on the field, but it was so dark in front of her.

She felt… empty.

First, there was the salty taste then a tear, burning and painful, slid to her mouth. She touched her wet cheek, feeling strangely detached.

Then the contents of the letter danced in front of her in the night, strangled her neck, suffocated her.

She gasped, bringing a hand to her heaving chest.

\- "It can't be…"

It could not be her voice and the womb writhing in pain was not hers.

\- "It's not true," she blurted. "They're wrong. It's not happening. DO YOU HEAR ME? IT CAN'T BE!"

The words were burning her dry throat and her legs wobbled suddenly.

She staggered.

\- "It can't be", she stammered. "Not him... not Al... not my baby..."

She fell to her knees and cradled her stomach, unable to get up again. Her red hair tangled over her face sticky with tears dripping in her mouth, down her chin to the crook of her neck. Her nose was running and she felt like she would never again catch her breath. The grass stems were cutting her skin as she tore them, but she felt nothing.

\- "Albus... my little boy, my very little boy... Al... oh, why... _why_... ALBUS!"

It was like her heart was going to be ripped off by her convulsive sobs.

She wanted to hold him, but he was not there so she wept wildly - desperately - because this was unbearable and unfair, and because she needed to touch his body, to kiss her son's black curls, to breath in the soft smell of his skin, to rock him in her arms, to reassure him, to protect him against the world, against any pain, any question, any difficulties.

\- "Mummy's here, kitty cat... Mummy's here..."

But she was only in the field in front of her empty house, and her child was far away, lying on a mattress stained with blood, hovering between life and death.

The pale stars were twinkling high in the silent dark sky.

Everything was so peaceful.

* * *

oOoOoOoOo

* * *

Molly Weasley stopped crying and blew her nose loudly, then she crossed her crochet shawl over her opulent chest and plumped up her chin defiantly.

\- "I'll go check on Ginny", she stated in a voice that trembled in spite of herself.

Her clear eyes had strengthened under her pepper and salt hair.

Arthur wondered for a moment if she drew her strength from the thunderbolts she must be intended on dropping on Harry upon his return, or if it was just her maternal instinct getting the better of the horrible news.

He just nodded weakly, his hands still clutching the letter.

He had not shed a tear.

Molly glanced at him one last time before leaving the house.

He looked so old, suddenly, with his woolen hat pulled over his protruding ears, his slumped shoulders, his wrinkles laced with fatigue and the age brown spots muddling with his freckles…

She sucked in a deep breath.

\- "I'll be back soon, Arthur."

He lifted his head and smiled sadly.

\- "I will be there."

The door closed and the smile died on his lips.

_Yes, he would be there. He was always _here_, even after his war comrades had fallen, even after the death of his son, even after..._

He buried his face in his hands, letting the letter slip to the floor.

\- "Oh, Al..."

Memories were jostling under his skull.

His precious Ginny was putting in his arms a warm, soft bundle. She looked exhausted but was beaming with pride and joy. He was a grandfather _again_ and, as always, he was overwhelmed with gratitude.

_So fragile. So innocent._

Tiny bud mouth, little fist curling on his rough finger, a mop of dark curls, big eyes gazing at him thoughtfully.

_Albus Severus Potter._

The baby was quiet compared to his cousins or his brother who vigorously claimed attention and love from the adults. Sometimes, Arthur tried to imagine the child Harry had been and something stringy pinched the back of his throat at the thought of another toddler, so like the one trotting toward him with reaching arms, whom had been rejected and mistreated when he only wanted to love.

Al grew up. He used to spent time perched in the Weasley's shed, his legs dangling off the workbench, just happy to be with his grandfather. He did not talk much, but he giggled often and always ended up coming to help to unscrew a nut, tinker with hybrid engines, pin to the ground a running off celluloid duck.

Arthur was taking the child with him for his strolls and they walked along the river, holding hands in the plain flooded in late afternoon sun. Albus asked questions about life, the world, Hogwarts and Muggles' cartoons. His grandfather was pointing at a heron or a deer, from time to time, and they crouched in the tall grass to observe the animals, holding their breath.

When Al started school, Arthur was surprised to find the time long despite Lily's daily visits. He waited for his grand-son's letters, read them aloud to Molly while she cooked and kept them in the pockets of his khaki gabardine to look at them again later, on his own, leaning against the worn workbench, in the smell of gasoline, wood and magic glue.

Upon Holidays, Al came back and he spent the whole summer in overalls, shouting and playing and splashing water with his cousins, his unruly dark curls falling on his green eyes sparkling with life, or lying flat down on the pleasantly cold wooden floor of the attic, reading beside a dusty pile of books, an owl perched on his head.

He had a spurt of growth the next year – gained height and wider shoulders - but failed to catch up with James who would surely be as tall as the twins. In this gaggle of coppery brown haired and redheads, he was the only grandchild with black hair: Molly called him "our little prince" and Lily wished she'd have his emerald eyes.

He had made friends at school and they were muggle-born! Arthur was almost as excited as him at the idea of inviting them to the _Burrow_. His budding friendship with Scorpius Malfoy was something of a sore subject for the grown-ups, but Albus had not noticed. He told his grandfather everything - and Arthur listened, fascinated. The innocence and tenderness of the child slowly becoming a teenager might have changed the course of things, if Albus had been born many years before, when Lucius had not yet been an enemy...

The old man shivered.

It was cold in the dark room. When Molly had shut the door the night wind had blown out the candle. The tap was dripping in the silence.

The letter was at his feet, a bit rumpled.

Arthur picked it up, pushing his woolen hat a little higher on his broad forehead. He smoothed the corner of the paper with his calloused thumb.

He read it again, then closed his eyes.

Slowly, a tear rolled down his wrinkled cheek.

* * *

oOoOoOoOo

* * *

The wind was howling gloomily, whirling in the aviary beams. The rancid smell of dried droppings mingled with that of the dead mice and pips. A feather glued to the floor was fluttering. Occasionally, an owl hooted or scratched its perch, a dry sound in the silence of dawn.

Lily gave the letter to a school Grand Duke, who flew off after blinking his piercing yellow eyes. She watched it disappear like a small dot in the sky, then shoved her hands under her armpits, jumping up to get warm. Morning was dawning beyond the Forbidden Forest, stretching its rays like creamy silk over the lake shrouded in mist.

It was beautiful - quiet and bright - and she suddenly understood _why_ Albus spent so much time sitting on the window at the top of the old tower.

\- "It's beautiful…"

She spun around, surprised.

\- "_James_? What are you doing here?"

He looked tired. Dark bags under his eyes betrayed his sleepless night. He shrugged without looking at her, showed the envelope he had in his hand.

\- "I've got a letter to send."

Lily's eyebrows bounced.

\- "You _never_ send mail", she said flatly. "I thought you didn't even know you could use parchment for something else than a purchase order."

\- "Well, I did."

Something cracked on the last syllable, as if the sixteen years old boy had trouble controlling his voice. He walked quickly to his big gray owl and gave it the mail.

\- "Who are you writing to?" asked Lily behind him.

Her brother's shoulders tensed.

\- "To Uncle George."

James chewed the inside of his cheek, smoothed something invisible on the wooden rod where the owls were dozing.

\- "Who were _you_ writing to?"

Since Lily did not answer, he turned and looked up. His little sister was still standing in the middle of the aviary and was fighting tears.

\- "To Uncle George", she whispered.

James hesitated. He was not sure he would be able to hold on to the little courage he still had left if he went to comfort her, so he just shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

\- "It'll be okay, Lily", he muttered.

Her sister's eyes blazed up. She threw back her red hair and she stepped toward him, fists clenched.

\- "_No_, James. NO. It _won't_ be okay. Nothing will ever be the same. Al..."

Her voice broke.

She turned her back on him and flumped on the first step of the spiral staircase, biting her lips, her arms holding her belly.

She had not slept either since the arrival of the letter, the day before, during dinner. She had told no one about what it said, had locked herself in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom - the ghost had run away when she had thrown a toilet seat at her while sobbing like if she was going to choke. A few hours before dawn, she had finally made up her mind. She would not write to her mother, or to her grandparents. She knew _who_ was the only person who could understand her pain.

James sat on the stairs next to her. He did not try to put his arm over her shoulders and said nothing. She finally turned her head toward him.

He ran a hand through his untidy brown hair, his eyes staring at the wooden floor.

There was something so painful, so tense on his face, that Lily felt her heart sink. She gently touched her brother's arm.

\- "James..."

\- "I always tell him rubbish", he croaked suddenly. "I'm always telling him to bog off, I-I don't make time for him... I never told him he was _important_..."

He buried his face in his hands. He was shuddering.

Lily snuggled against her big brother. She put her arm around his waist and kissed his brow, like their mother did when he was little.

\- "Shh..." she soothed. "Don't worry... Al knows you love him, James."

\- "I just want... to tell him _now_..." stammered the young man.

Lily nodded and clung a little more on him. Her tears overflowed without restraint, now.

\- "I know. Me too…"

The wind had stopped. The lake was shimmering down below and the morning sun was bathing the tower in golden mist, gently warming the tiles and the old dirty floor.

In the courtyard, happy voices were calling as students were heading to the Great Hall for breakfast.

Everything was so peaceful.

But nothing would ever be the same.

* * *

**_TBC_**

* * *

**_Next chapter: MISSION REPORT _****_n°543210_**


	28. MISSION REPORT nb 543210

**MISSION REPORT ****n°543210**

* * *

His pen was scratching the paper furiously and tiny ink splatters speckled the parchment held in place on the table by the lantern. Behind the ornate glass, the candle smoked more than it gave light.

* * *

**_... confirmed the death of Bercelak MacFusty, leader of the insurgents, after his fall into the sea. The body was found on Wednesday, April the 10th on the shores of _****Loch Indaal_._**

* * *

The rain was hammering the stiff fabric of the tent and, despite the burning brazier, humidity rose from the ground, cold and unpleasant, seeping into his boots, his shirt and his trousers.

* * *

**_... arresting all rebels (51 people in all - names are listed in Annex 4). We found out that they were subjected to a form of hypnosis similar to the effects of the Imperium. We are currently waiting for the arrival of the Dark Arts expert to establish a more accurate diagnosis..._**

* * *

He looked up _Annex 4_ in the paperwork piled next to him and accidentally knocked off his coffee cup. Stifling a curse, he dabbed the brown liquid thickened by badly filtered coffee grounds before it'd spread on his report.

* * *

**_... once broken their link with the Anghenfil. The captured Hebridean Black and its female that got away were set free close to Sanaigmore Coast and their monitoring entrusted to Gudmund Gwyliwr, _****Obliviators Office of Portnahaven_, _Islay Island_, following the signing of the treaty. The specialist sent by the Ministry of Magic, Charlie Weasley, certified it was safe now that they were back to their natural state..._**

* * *

He stopped to massage his temples, pinching the bridge of his nose with a wince. The migraine was persisting despite the horrible potion he had swallowed instead of breakfast - his stomach was too knotted to accept any solid food anyway.

* * *

**_... sorely hurt. The fur dragon nicknamed "Toothless" - _**He barred the name of the plush toy. People who had not hesitated to send a child to war did not have the right to know it**_ \- is to be considered definitively gone, dead as a result of their injuries. Therefore, Hermione Jean Granger, Head of the _Departement for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures_, has lifted up any suspicion of hybridity about Albus Severus Potter and revoked notices from previously (see report in Annex 7)..._**

* * *

He dipped the metal tip of the quill in the ink bottle, not realizing he was drowning it. He felt like there was sand in his cornea. His headache was beating louder under his skull and his shoulder, which was far from fully recovered, was throbbing in dull pain waves along his arm.

* * *

**_... transports should be restored today, Friday, April the 12th , which will allow healers sent by St. Mungo's to care for the wounded whom could not be treated by the muggle doctor of Glenegedale (see the reasons given for this breach of the _****International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy_ in Annex 9). The underage wizards and the heavily injured Aurors will be then evacuated by train to London. Mailing Service having resumed last Tuesday, an owl will inform the families of their time of arrival..._**

* * *

The scroll was blurring and he blinked to clear his sight. He muttered another curse as he realized the lines were spinning and some words were half written on the table. He would have to start all over again... He took off his glasses and rubbed his aching eye sockets.

\- "Harry?"

He turned his head.

\- "You look horrible", sighed Hermione, coming in the tent and removing the hood of her wet raincoat. She picked up his glasses and put them on his nose. "You should rest. Lizzie didn't send you off to write your report, but to make sure you'd rest a little. You've barely slept for the past _four days_, Harry."

She shook her head sadly.

\- "And you should eat something, too - even if it's hard."

The man avoided her worried gaze. He looked haggard, emaciated cheeks devoured by anxiety and a shaggy black beard. A shiver ran down his right arm and the woman suspected that the icy humidity was awakening the pain from the shoulder he had dislocated during the final battle.

\- "Oh, Harry..."

He groaned.

\- "I'm _fine_, Hermione. If I don't get over the paperwork now, I'll have to do it later. And when we go back home, my family will need me."

She nodded silently, put a gentle hand on her friend's unhurt shoulder.

\- "How are they?" Harry asked almost in a whisper.

Hermione breathed in deeply.

\- "Busy", she said simply. "The Aurors have spread the word. The children won't get a single moment to think about what happened."

\- "But they'll have to face it at some point, though..." the man muttered darkly. "We must all learn to live with it..."

His fingers had unconsciously intertwined on his lap and his knuckles were turning white. Hermione crouched in front of him and wrapped his hands in hers.

\- "Everything will be alright. It's for Albus that it's the most difficult and he's being really courageous."

Harry's lips twitched, sneering miserably.

\- "I'm afraid he'll break down later... when we'll believe to have overcome this..."

Burning tears welled up in his bloodshot eyes.

\- "He didn't say anything, but ... he was sobbing ... Hermione... He was sobbing _so much_ in my arms when he realized..." he stammered. "And I could say nothing ... do _nothing_ ... just hold him tight... it's all _my fault_... I should _never_ have let him come here..."

The woman got up and hugged him, without a word, stifling the words that hurt so much. He did not struggle, instead grabbed the sleeves of the raincoat and leaned against her, spluttering and breathing in hitches, tears streaming down his face, hiding away from the world like a child.

_"Cry, Harry. Cry with all your heart. Cry now, because later they will need you to be strong. Cry, because you never let yourself to. All these years, Harry... you stood up and held on because of your rage, to protect the world - your family – the peace… But you're allowed to cry... even a hero ... even a father has the right to cry…"_

In the hospital, Lizzie had drawn the curtains and cast a spell to build a cocoon of warmth around the bed. She thought Albus was sleeping. Sheltered from the cold humidity, the sound of the rain and the voices outside, the teenager had opened his eyes. His arms were flat on the sheet and he was staring at the translucent halo forming on the roof of the tent above him.

He was calm.

He had made his decision.

* * *

**_TBC_**

* * *

**_Next chapter: King's Cross Station_**

**_(This will be the last chapter before the closing one)._**


	29. At King's Cross Station

**AT KING'S CROSS STATION**

* * *

Cherry blossoms were fluttering in the breeze, like scented snowflakes. The sun gently warmed the brick walls, dazzling when it brushed on the enamel sign "Platform 7 ¾" which swayed slightly down its silver chain. It was a crispy, pleasant spring morning with a big blue sky above the rooftops of London.

\- "Attention please... ladies and gentlemen, the _Northen Express_ will now enter _King's Cross Station_. Attention please..."

On the nearly deserted platform, Ginny squeezed Lily's hand. They were both very pale.

\- "We do not stare at him, we behave _normally_", repeated the red-haired woman through clenched teeth.

James growled at her side. His fists were buried in his pockets, so that no one would see how his nails were carved into his palms.

\- "Rubbish. As if we could", he muttered. "And anyway, one day or another he'll have to show himself as he is and he'll have to deal with the gossip... He's not going to finish school _at home_, that'd be ridiculous!"

His mother glowered at him.

\- "Your father and I, _we_ will decide _when_ Al will go back to Hogwarts. Meanwhile, if I hear _you_ say anything..."

The boy shrugged bitterly.

\- "I'm not as bad as you all think..."

Ginny decided to ignore that last sentence, even if the words had slapped her in the face. Lily was watching for the train whose whistle could be heard from far away.

There were no nurses, no stretchers, no anxious families and journalists gathered under the brick arches like there had been two days earlier, when the wounded and the first Auror contingent had returned from the Hebrides.

Harry had sent an owl: Albus was not yet healthy enough to travel. He had not explained _why_ he had allowed the other three teenagers to stay in Islay even though their parents were dying to see them.

A few steps away from the Potters, Draco was pacing and the tails of his black jacket were sharply flapping in the air when he suddenly changed directions. His thin lips were pursed irately and his dark eyebrows were knitted together. His wife was watching him sadly, her hands clasped over her velvet pouch, standing like a statue by the empty bench.

A bit farther, Francis Swanson was pretty much in the same state as Scorpius' father, but his wife showed much less countenance than Astoria Malfoy. She was rummaging feverishly in her bag, looking for something she could not find, and swearing under her breath. Her keys fell on the stone floor and the noise made everyone jump. She crouched down to pick them up and the thermos she had tucked in between her chin and shoulder rolled to the ground. It opened and emptied on her diary.

\- "Oh, no… _no_, really..." Amelia moaned, pushing her brown hair back in a desperate gesture. Her knees flumped and tea stained her jeans.

Calloused hands wrapped her diary in a lace handkerchief and gave it back after drying it a bit.

\- "No harm done, ma'am."

She blinked to fight back the silly tears threatening to spill over.

\- "They're safe. They will be here soon and the nightmare will be over. You'll soon be able to hug your son as much as you need..."

The man was speaking to her in a slow voice, reassuring and serious. He was wearing an elegant tweed suit that contrasted with the awful scar on his bald skull. His thick blond eyebrows and his bright blue eyes were giving a gentle look to his austere features.

\- "Are you Wendy's father?" Amelia stammered, accepting the hand he held out to help her up.  
He was tall - much taller than anyone else on the platform. He turned his head toward the locomotive that was entering the station with loud bangs, releasing a torrent of white steam.

\- "I came for her", he said simply.

Francis walked to his wife – the anger on his face was now giving way to anxiety. Amelia gave a small nod to the man and snuggled against her husband.

_Terrence. Oh, Terrence..._

Astoria had stepped forward, biting her lip. A red pearl was shining on her porcelain skin. Draco looked for his wife's hand and grabbed it almost violently.

_Scorpius. Scorpius. Scorpius._

In the racket of steel bearings and copper sparks, as the train slowed down, James squinted and Lily covered her ears.

Ginny was holding her breath.

_Albus._

With a last hiss, the train stopped completely. It was not red and black - not like the _Hogwarts Express_ \- but royal blue and silver. The doors opened noisily and the cloud of smoke dissipated.

The first to jump off the train was Ron Weasley, who turned to reach out to help Hermione who went down the stairs with her eyes searching the platform as if she had been hoping to see her children.

Then Harry came out, his back turned to watch the progress of those who were following him.

Scorpius and Terrence were smiling encouragingly, Albus' arms on their shoulders, their hands crossed behind his back to help out. Wendy joined them a second later, carrying the crutches. Her soft brown hair was not tied and filled the hood of her sweater.

\- "Home sweet home", exclaimed Terrence. "Hmm, London's smell!"

\- "Muggles cars' gas, rather", Scorpius groaned. "I'm hungry."

\- "You wouldn't be if you had eaten Mother Gerta's cheese sandwiches instead of being picky", scoffed Wendy, giving Albus the crutches.

\- "Guys... ", said this one softly.

His chin pointed at the group in front of them and the three teenagers' faces turned serious. Wendy recoiled and bumped against Harry who put his hand on her shoulder.

\- "Hi, Mum", Albus said, hopping on his crutches to go to Ginny who was frozen in the middle of the platform.

Lily had put her hands over her mouth and one could only see her eyes widened in horror.

James was forcing himself to keep his head up and to look at his brother, but he did not realize that the pain oppressing his chest was drawn on his face.

The red-haired woman was trembling in the silence broken only by the clatter of the crutches. The breeze was fluttering in the wisps on her forehead, like a caress.

_He was here._

_Her son._

His emerald eyes were smiling at her beneath his unruly dark curls. He was pale but did not look sick. The trip must have tired him, but in the joy of seeing her again the discomfort he must have been feeling under the stares was fading off.

He was wearing one of the irreplaceable Weasley sweaters, but the loosen wool was not hiding the feline grace of his shoulders. The empty piece of his trousers' right leg was pinned just above his knee.

A sob choked in Ginny's throat.

_She had promised - sworn to herself – she would not cry in front of him. She could not show him how broken her heart was. She was not going to be weak..._

Her eyes locked with Harry's begging gaze, behind their son.

\- "Hey, Mum..." Albus tried again, trying to hold the warm smile on his lips. "I'm back..."

There was so much courage in his green eyes...

_The courage of a man._

Ginny gasped. She grinned back and took a step forward.

\- "Hey, Al..."

She quickly walked up the few meters that separated them and wrapped the boy in her arms. She buried her face in the black curls and inhaled his scent, feeling intoxicated.

_He was here._

_Alive._

And his missing leg was not going to change what she felt for him.

_My son._

She could feel his heart pounding against hers, a bit breathless, as if he had been afraid she would reject him. She tightened her grip fiercely, found that he was almost as tall as her, now.

\- "I missed you _so much_, kitty cat..."

Harry relaxed for a moment, then his eyes fell on his other son and his daughter and he begged them silently to find the right words.

Tears were streaming down Lily's cheeks, but she smiled when their mother let go of Albus and ran to him.

\- "Welcome back, bro!" she cried, jumping to his neck.

He nearly lost his balance, let go of a crutch and hugged his little sister with one arm, grinning widely. Terrence had caught him by the elbow, but Lily pushed off her brother's friend to slip under Albus' armpit to support him.

\- "Yo", he said affectionately. "Sorry, I didn't bring back a gift for you."

He let her kiss him on the cheek without pulling a face, ruffled her red hair as he usually did.

\- "But I do have stories to tell."

\- "Cool", whispered Lily with a wink.

James cleared his throat and the other two Potter children looked up.

\- "You took your sweet time to come back", muttered the sixteen years old boy. "You've missed a dozen Quidditch workouts."

Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Harry shared the same alarmed look. Lily, Scorpius, Terrence and Wendy glared at James, looking equally dangerous.

Albus calmly looked at his brother's eyes.

\- "At least, I wasn't in detention, this time", he said simply and his amused tone lightened considerably the atmosphere. "Don't worry, James. I'm not done playing Quidditch. Terrence already has an idea to tinker with my broom and I can't wait to try it out."

James grunted.

\- "'Kay", he muttered.

He hesitated, lowered his eyelids, biting the corner of his mouth.

\- "It's good... you're here."

He had spoken so softly that even Lily was not sure she had understood what he had said.

But Albus' green eyes lit up and he raised his hand with a grin that could have beamed the locomotive to the stars.

\- "Thanks, bro."

James wryly shrugged as he always did, but he high-fived back.

The wind swirled in a storm of cherry blossoms and the world began to rotate again slowly.

Francis and Amelia timidly came to the group. Draco held back Astoria who wanted to run to her son and gave a brief stern cough.

Terrence quickly squeezed Albus' arm before heading to his parents and Scorpius turned to Ron.

\- "Goodbye", he said, very serious.

The red-haired man nodded and took off his black glove.

\- "See you soon", he said.

They shared a firm handshake under the dumbfounded eyes of Draco and the bearded Auror grinned, thumbing at Astoria.

\- "Someone's waiting for you, Cadet Malfoy."

Scorpius nodded and his gray eyes flickered to Hermione who was listening to them with emotion.

\- "Someone's waiting for you too", said the boy, knitting his dark brows and slicking back his pale hair. "Do something about that, Mr. Weasley."

Ron rolled his eyes.

\- "It's _lieutenant-Colonel_ Weasley', he corrected. "Now, run along. And don't you think of flirting with my Rosie when you go back to school!"

Scorpius allowed himself a disgusted wince and he went to his parents.

Astoria hugged him tightly, drowning a torrent of relieved whispers in her son's hair, then she pulled away and Drago faced the boy. He checked him for a few minutes, as if looking for a reason to sue someone, and Scorpius forced himself to stay still, despite the uncomfortable tingling of the scar hidden under his shirt.

Then the man sighed deeply.

\- "You disobeyed me. You left during the school year, caused the death of an elf and risked your life. Never asking for my permission. Without any regard for your mother's sorrow."

Scorpius swallowed the lump forming in his throat and his dove gray eyes sustained the steely gaze of his father.

\- "Forgive me, Father", he said firmly. "I'm sorry I made you worry, Mother."

The sincerity of his voice was also saying, "but I did what I thought was right and I would do it again if necessary."

Astoria smiled softly and Draco rubbed his temples wearily.

\- "What will become of you..." he muttered.

Scorpius lifted his chin defiantly.

\- "Someone who will take good decisions... Father."

For an endless second, Malefoy closed his eyes as if about to explode with anger. When he opened them again, shadows old of more than twenty years were dancing in his gray eyes.

\- "Come here", he only said.

Scorpius took a step forward, uncertain.

And Draco wrapped him in his arms.

\- "I was so scared for you", the man whispered as he felt his son's shoulders stiffen. "_I_ am sorry, Scorpius. I never should have spoken of taking you away from your friends or of sending you to another school. Give me another chance, please."

Scorpius breathed in deeply and his hands clutched the black fabric of his father's jacket.

\- "I missed you, Papa..." he mumbled.

He forgot he was fourteen and that a Malfoy did not show his emotions. He buried his face in his father's shoulder just like he did when he was younger. Astoria's perfume and her long hair brushed on his neck and he knew she was there too, hugging her two men who had come back a long way.

A few steps away, Amelia was also burying her face in her son's shoulder and Francis had had only a brief moment of hesitation before hugging Terrence too. Then they sat - dropped, rather - all three on the station bench. Amelia fiddled with the boy's collar, touched him as if to ensure he was really there, alive. But Francis was again looking very serious.

\- "Don't you ever do that again", he croaked.

Terrence gently pushed his mother's hand, his blue eyes locking with his father's stare.

\- "I won't go with you to New Zealand", he said calmly. "I will stay in England and I will continue my education at Hogwarts."

He lifted his hand impatiently when Francis opened his mouth to protest, and his mother thought she no longer knew the young man sitting in between them.

\- "I'm sorry I got you worried. I thought we would be able to write to you once there. Next time I'll do things better."

\- "Are you thinking of running away from school _again_?" Francis uttered incredulously.

\- "Terri, sweetheart, you know... we... we could..." Amelia began helplessly.

Terrence shook his head and his gaze softened.

\- "Let's go home, he suggested.

It was not yet time to tell them about the profession he had already chosen, and the promises he made to himself.

He got up, let his mother take his hand and smiled at her reassuringly. His father was watching him silently.

_Maybe they would talk. Later. When some time would have passed..._

He cast a glance towards the Potters. James and Lily had taken the place of his two friends on either side of Albus. Ginny was snuggled against Harry, but carefully watching her son.

For them too, there would be much to say, to accept, so little time to get reacquainted.

_Everything had changed._

_The children had grown up._

The station platform filled with a whirlwind of white flowers like snowflakes felt like a new page turning.

Ron scratched his neck, looking a bit embarrassed.

\- "I'll see you at the _Burrow_ later, then, when I'm back from reporting to the ministry. And... hum... Hermione? I was thinking of taking Hugo to the Lighthouse of Alexandria, next summer... and... well... er. There's a pretty big library there."

\- "I know", said Hermione.

She nibbled on her lip as if she was struggling with something inside, while he waited without daring to look up.

\- "Rosie and I really need to go to the beach, sunbathe, have a swim", she finally said with a weak smile.

Ron nodded and his face showed exactly the same awkward look, happy and embarrassed, as when he was seventeen years old.

\- "O-okay. Great. Cool."

The woman sighed, rolling her eyes. She met Harry's amused gaze and she grinned back.

_It was over._

_Just like a long time ago, the three of them were there at the end of all things, when a new era was beginning._

She made sure her bag was well hung on her shoulder and spun round, determined to make a stop at her apartment before going to the _Burrow_. Seeing Molly and Arthur face Albus was going to be rough and she wanted to call Hogwarts by Floo powder first and ask Minerva if she could speak to her children.

She almost bumped into the teenager who was right behind her.

\- "Oh. Wendy. Sorry."

She cast a glance around.

\- "Someone came to get you, isn't it?"

The girl's chin gestured toward the arcades where a very tall man with an horribly scarred bald skull was standing. Hermione frowned: he did not look anything like Wendy. _Was it really a family member?_ Her instinct resurfaced.

\- "Do you want me to take you home?"

Wendy slowly shook her head.

\- "You'll be alright?" tried again the woman affectionately.

\- "Yes."

The girl shifted from one foot to the other, playing with a lock of brown hair. Her eyes were downcast and she was nibbling her lips.

\- "Can I... can you..."

Hermione had to lean to hear and suddenly two arms locked around her neck. She froze.

\- "Thank you", Wendy whispered briefly before stepping back and running off.

The woman straightened up and looked at the man who was welcoming the girl.

She had had no time to return the hug and her heart sank.

_Wendy was Rose's age..._

_She could have been _her_ daughter._

_Maybe she could write to her, invite her during holidays at the _Burrow_... Albus would surely be delighted..._

_Those two were…_

She smiled and began walking towards the exit of the station after greeting the Potters. The Malfoys and the Swansons were also leaving. Ron hesitated, then caught up with Hermione in a few strides and started to talk to her.

Wendy watched them, then chuckled.

\- "Who's this lady, Miss Wendy?" asked the butler, putting his hand on her shoulder.

\- "Albus Potter's aunt", replied the girl. "She's very nice."

She looked up and the morning sun sparkled on the carbuncle at her left eyebrow.

\- "Is Mother mad because of me?" she asked casually. "What did my father say? The twins must have thrown quite a tantrum when the ministry's owl arrived."

She was putting up a brave front but her fingers were fumbling with the hem of her sweater and the man with the scarred skull was not fooled.

\- "Monsieur said nothing, he was in Dubai for a fortnight. I do not think he's aware of your... breakout."

He crouched in front of her and cupped the stubborn chin in one of his calloused hands.

\- "Madame... Madame was very worried, Miss Wendy. She cried."

The girl shrugged.

\- "She'll tell me off and I'll end up at the Covent, she squeaked. "She'll be glad to be rid of me."

The butler smiled softly.

\- "I don't think so, Miss Wendy. Madame prepared your bedroom herself, and gave orders to the cook to make your favorite cake."

Wendy looked away. Her pursed lips quivered.

\- "Come on, let's go home", said the man with broad shoulders, his clear blue eyes gazing at her with paternal love.

She sniffled.

\- "T'was war out there, Barrie", she uttered, as if suddenly a bubble of air was blurting out of her chest.

He patiently nodded.

She stepped aside in a daze, let him grab one of her hands.

\- "I fought, you know. Like a proper soldier."

She was so pale he came closer, afraid she'd fall.

\- "It's not a crocodile who gave you this scar, isn't it?" she stammered.

\- "Indeed no, Miss Wendy."

She gasped. The breeze was tangling her chestnut hair and sticking white petals on her now wet cheeks.

\- "It's over now, Miss Wendy. You're back, safe and sound."

She staggered and put her arms around the giant's neck. He hugged her gently.

\- "I'm sorry, Barrie... I didn't know..."

\- "You were very brave", he whispered, patting her back to soothe her. "I'm so proud of you..."

He waited until she straightened up, wiping her nose with her sleeve, then tucked a lock behind the girl's ear and smiled.

\- "Let's go eat that cake, Miss Wendy. Nana prepared tea to perk you up and I know she went out early this morning to buy soy milk, despite her _awful_ rheumatism."

\- "It's in her head", giggled the girl despite herself, her cheeks still shining with tears.

\- "It's in her head, indeed", the butler confirmed with a discreet nod. "But hush!"

He stood up and resumed his dignified look when seeing Albus' father coming to them.

\- "Hello", Harry said, holding out his hand.

The man with a bald head did not take it, but saluted instead.

\- "Major Peter Barrington, Sir", he greeted in a loud voice.

The Auror hesitated a moment, then also brought his hand to his forehead.

\- "Colonel Potter. Nice to meet you. Are you Wendy's family?"

\- "Yes", said the girl before the butler could reply. "Are you leaving?"

Harry glanced at his wife and children.

\- "Yes", he said. "This day is far from being over and Al needs to rest."

He grinned.

\- "You too, young woman."

The former Legionnaire vigorously nodded and Wendy chuckled.

\- "Then... just a moment, please."

She crept up to the Potters and planted herself in front of Albus.

\- "See you at school", she said.

The green eyes smiled back at her.

\- "Yeah."

\- "I'll be waiting for you."

Albus cocked his head to the side, very seriously.

\- "Thank you."

\- "Terrence and Scorpius will be too", she added quickly.

Behind them, James rolled his eyes.

\- " Oh My Gosh. Isn't This Subtle?" Lily sighed, crossing her arms.

Ginny stifled a giggle behind her hand, astonished at the wave of tenderness and peace she felt around her.

Wendy shifted from one foot to the other.

\- "I'm off, then", she said.

But she did not move.

Albus blushed, but he did not pause for long.

He leaned forward, supported by his crutches, and kissed her.

Barrie cleared his throat and Harry shot him an apologetic wince. The sun was bathing the station in dazzling light, blurring the two teenagers who had forgotten people were looking at them. The blue sky was high above London and spring was filling the streets with a tangy scent full of promises.

* * *

oOoOoOo

* * *

The night lights were giving a bluish glow to the familiar corridor on the first floor. Everything was quiet.

Through the open door of the first room, Harry could see James busy polishing his broom, sitting cross-legged on the chair in front of his cluttered desk. A bewitched quaffle was bouncing against the walls covered with posters of Quidditch and pictures of alluring witches. A little further, the ajar door half hid Lily laying flat belly on her bed, immersed in a book. The moon-shaped lamp hanging above her head was slowly turning on itself at the end of the silver wire.

In the parents' room, Ginny was brushing her auburn hair, wearing the silky green nightgown that Harry found so sexy on her porcelain skin. She was smiling at nothing, then frowning, staring at something invisible and sighing. She was probably debriefing the day in silence, as she usually did. He was eager to go to her, to lie beside her and to feel - finally - at home.

He put his hand on the latch of the last door.

Albus had held on all day, smiling bravely and letting his grandparents pamper him to their heart content. He had gone to bed very quickly after dinner - with the help of his brother and sister.

And now he was on the other side of that shut door, as if cut off from the world, and Harry was afraid that he might be sobbing quietly, just like when he had discovered he had lost his leg.

He took a deep breath and turned the latch.

But the door did not open.

He raised an eyebrow, reached for his wand in the back pocket of his jeans.

\- "_Alohomora_."

The lock did not even shudder.

Harry thought for a moment, then tried another spell, a more advanced one.

The door was locked - enough for a wizard of NEWT level to not be able to come in.

He tried something else and gave a little sigh of relief upon hearing the lock crack open. For a moment, he had thought that the dying dragon had given Albus a magic well beyond that of an Auror.

He gently pushed the door, tiptoed in the room.

His heart stopped.

The bed was empty. The crutches were leaning against the tidy desk and the sheets were not even rumpled.

\- "Albus?"

A breath ruffled his hair and he looked up.

The ceiling was again enchanted, like in the Great Hall of Hogwarts, like when adults had united to turn into a fairy tale the bedroom of a sick little boy, years before.

Thousands of stars were falling to him, like pearls in a black pond.

\- "Albus?" Harry whispered, looking for the beam where Toothless used to perch with his son.

Two golden split green orbs opened in the darkness.

_"He's sleeping, Father."_

Harry shuddered violently.

\- "You are _alive_!" he gasped.

Now he could see him. The dragon was crouched on the beam, his paws huddled under his satin fur craw, his black wings swollen like sails and his spade-shape tail making waves in the ocean of stars.

_"I never died."_

The voice in Harry's head was almost amused.

_"It's a good thing everyone believed so. The ministry will leave Albus alone."_

The man swallowed hard.

\- "Terrence, Scorpius, Wendy... even _Charlie_ believed you died", he accused. "Albus couldn't morph anymore. _You_..."

The dark dragon's head bowed toward him and he caught a glimpse of the gleaming fangs.

_"No. Keeping the secret was _his_ decision, Father."_

Harry tried to calm his breathing.

\- "_You_ are unharmed. And _he_ lost his leg", he snapped harshly. "He's just _a child_. Do something. Give him back his life. How can he go back to school, face the stares, the _gossip_, looking like this?"

The hot breath, irritated, swept his hair against his glasses. He did not step back, glaring accusingly. He had suffered so much from being different, from the stigma that was his scar, from the voices whispering in his back when he had fainted in front the Dementors.

_"I cannot give him back his leg. Albus chose to pay the price to save the heart of an old man lost in the dark. It was not my wing the dragon's fangs were grinding. It was his body because it was him – with all his soul - who was facing the Anghenfil."_

Harry swallowed hard. His throat was so dry that doing so hurt him.

The golden split green eyes were staring at him in the magical night of the ceiling and he felt like they saw - they knew - all of him.

_"He is no longer a child."_

The man clutched his wand in his fist.

\- "For me, he will _always_ be a child!"

The dragon's wings unfurled slowly. The ancient creature came down slowly and stood facing the Auror.

\- "Give me back my son", Harry hissed through his clenched teeth.

The majestic black head bowed to him and the silky forehead of the dragon leaned against the man's chest.

And he felt a wave of peace and tenderness overwhelming him – stronger than his doubts, his rancor, his memories.

_"I'm here, Father."_

He could hear the beat of both their hearts in the silence. Closing his eyes, he felt like he was hugging his fifteen years old boy.

_Oh, Albus…_

He opened his eyes and stroke the head of the dragon who did not move, purring softly.

\- "I'll keep the secret, since it's _his_ decision. But will you take care of him, Toothless? Will you stay with him forever? He doesn't show it, but I know that he's hurt and he's afraid, he often forgets about himself because of his love for the others. Will you make sure he never had to fight on his own or to cry alone? Will you help him remember he cannot do everything? Remind him it's okay to fail, to make mistakes, to try again. Tell him he has the right to be happy..."

He leaned his forehead against the dragon's head, as if to communicate all that he could not word.

\- "Please, Toothless. Watch over him."

The golden split green eyes dived into his and the great wings wrapped him in a cocoon of ebony feathers.

_"I promise."_

A cloud of white petals was billowing with the night wind, and light flakes were dancing over the peaceful plain, as if snow was falling in spring.

* * *

**_TBC_**

* * *

**_This is technically the end, but I'd keep an eye on the story, if I were you, for I will add an epilogue in the coming days, in which Albus will meet Severus Snape's _****talking_ portrait…_**

**_I hope you liked this story! I very much enjoyed writing it and I can't wait to share the next one with you. It's called "the Shufflers of Light" and will take us seven years later, to the last part of this trilogy with the dragon._**

**_Thank you so much for your reviews all along the writing of this story! You were of tremendous encouragement to me!_**


	30. Epilogue - Severus' painting

**EPILOGUE **

* * *

It was a hot day in June.

In the garden, a tree dressed in brilliant foliage was bowing under the weight of hundreds of scarlet cherries. A big striped cat was giving itself a good wash, perched on a bluish gray slate roof. A moped suddenly sputtered loudly at the corner of the street and two pigeons who were cooing on the edge of the chimney flew off in a rustle of wings. Then everything went quiet again in _Grimmauld Place_.

The sun was slipping into the office of the second floor of _Number 12_, drawing golden arabesques on the mahogany table and on the dark green carpet.

There was a light layer of dust on the glass shelves of the library.

The door opened and Harry's voice echoed from the ground floor.

\- "Wait for me in the office, I'll just have a quick look at this package. We'll travel by _Floo Powder_, I've already asked Minerva to open the network for us."

\- "Okay", said Albus.

He closed the door behind him, stifling the conversation downstairs.

The prosthesis was somewhat stiffening his walking, but it was perfectly invisible under his uniform trousers.

The long and painful weeks of rehabilitation would soon be only bad memories. He could now walk without a wince and the healer had even promised he could go back on a broom starting next month.

He left his school bag on the desk and glanced around: shelves crammed with beige folders overflowing with Sticky quarreling in whispers, medals still in their boxes lined with red velvet, black and white pictures of hugging Aurors who were happily waving to the camera, the _Voltiflor_ offered by Neville last Christmas that was starting to wilt.

Albus' eyes fell on Severus' portrait and he smiled.

\- "Hello", he said, thrusting his hands in his pockets.

The man dressed in black crossed his long sleeves and pursed his lips.

\- "It's _Good afternoon, Professor Snape_", he replied, throwing back his greasy hair.

Albus' eyes widened.

\- "But you – you're bloody _talking_!"

\- "Really, Potter?" sighed dramatically the portrait.

The teenager quickly came closer. He reached to touch the painting, but changed his mind at the last moment.

\- "So _this_ is where it was..." he whispered, fascinated. His smile widened and his emerald eyes began to sparkle. "Hello, Severus. I mean: _Professor_."

The corners of the portrait's lips tugged up imperceptibly.

\- "That's better. Are you going back to Hogwarts, Potter?"

Albus nodded.

\- "Yes."

A wrinkle deepened in the pale forehead of the man.

\- "Are you scared?"

The boy hesitated.

\- "A bit."

Severus huffed.

\- "You're an idiot", he said.

Albus narrowed his eyes.

\- "I liked you better when you were not talking", he retorted.

The portrait scoffed.

\- "Teachers are not meant to be loved, Potter. Your father also had trouble with that notion and I see it is a gene almost as strong as the one which gave you this – hair."

The boy giggled.

\- "I'm glad you're here", he grinned. "In his office. Do you sometimes talk about the 'good old times' together? I bet you complain about 'these modern ideas young people stuff their heads with nowadays' like my grandfather says, and Dad probably ends up drinking his tea cold!"

Severus frowned and his cheeks looked even hollower.

\- "Your father and I were never very good at chatting", he said darkly. "We were too busy glaring at each other. Some regrets can never fade away and it's better not talking when so many words could hurt."

His eyes met two green orbs that could not understand, and he hastily concluded.

\- "But it's all in the past, now. Forget it. It's only grown-ups' stories."

\- "I'm no longer a child", simply said Albus.

And there was seriousness on his face that was not his age, like a footprint barely detectable of the horrors seen in the Hebrides – and the mark of a wisdom that did not submit to the sands of time.

Professor Snape nodded.

\- "I know", he muttered.

He licked his thin lips.

\- "This is _why_ you should not be afraid, Albus Severus Potter. No matter what they tell you or how they look at you. No matter what you lost and what you have to do to compensate this loss. Remember who you are."

\- "Who I am", whispered the boy.

The man wrapped him in a long look and something that looked like pride touched his sharp features.

\- "You're brave and generous. You're a friend people can rely on. You're someone who makes _good_ choices."

The teenager swallowed hard.

\- "'M not quite sure it's true..." he mumbled shyly.

Severus cocked his head to the side and a tic that could be amused or annoyed tugged at the corner of his mouth.

\- "Lots of filthy idiots in this world will always seek out to bring others down", he rasped. "But you'll find there are also people who'll see what's beautiful in you. And it is a _crime_ not to believe them."

Albus let out a small strangled chortle.

\- "Got it."

In the silence of the old office, his emerald eyes were clinging to the narrow eyes of the lonely teacher. A sigh heaved his chest.

\- "It won't be easy, isn't it?"

Snape shook his receding chin.

\- "Nothing is easy in this life, Potter. But you won't be alone."

\- "I've got Terrence, Scorpius and Wendy, Neville – all my family, and then ... you'll be there too", completed Albus slowly. "In the Gallery."

A grin sneaked on his face.

\- "But you'll be a lot quieter", he added mischievously. "We won't be able to talk as we do now."

The dark eyebrows of the man bounced at this insolence.

\- "Has this ever been a problem?" he replied sternly.

\- "No", Albus chuckled. "No, it never was."

They heard the door closing on the ground floor with a thud, then Harry's steps climbing up the stairs.

\- "Al? You coming? I'm done, we can go", called the voice of the Auror.

The boy grabbed his class bag on the desk. On the doorstep, he gave one last look at the paiting.

\- "Severus?"

\- "Yes?" replied the man with a hooked nose. His face was not betraying any emotion.

Albus smiled.

\- "Thank you", he said before leaving the room.

The door remained ajar and the two voices came lightly from the hallway.

\- "Make sure you articulate", recommended Harry. "You don't want to find yourself in the clogged hearth of the Hufflepuff common room. Take a good handful. Oh, I hate to travel this way. Did I ever tell you about the first time I travelled by _Floo Powder_?"

\- "About forty thousand times", said Albus. "What was the package?"

\- "Mint chocolates from Gudmund Gwyliwr. A treat in the Hebrides. _Night Furies_, they call it. Want one?"

The noisy _wooff_ of the floo powder carried off the rest of their words, and quietness came back to the _12, Grimmauld Place._

In the bleak painting, Severus Snape sighed and spun around in a broad movement of his black robes...

...to come face-to-face with Dobby who had just burst into his framework.

\- "Oh, professor!"

\- "Do _not_ run", uttered between his teeth the sallow man who had been startled.

\- "Dobby is so sorry, Dobby did not want to interrupt the meditation of Severus Snape, Professor, Sir", chirped the elf without losing his beaming face. "But Dobby meant to tell the Professor that if he came right away, he could perhaps get a glimpse of the return of the young master at Hogwarts through the portrait of Giffard Abbot in the Clock Tower, sir. His friends have made a banner and I think they're going to shot fireworks when he passes underneath."

\- "Hum", the professor said. He frowned for a moment. "Who's the dratteful boy who was humming "_Forget Potter the whimp and greet Potter the limp_" last night? What's his name again? ..._Bilbo_? …_Buggins_? Ah, _Cadwallader_. Yes, that's right. Christopher Cadwallader."

A sly gleam appeared in Dobby's large protruding eyes.

\- "The kitchen elves might have dropped some phuting pepper in his lunch..."

Snape grinned sarcastically.

\- "Good. This boy won't be the last one, I suppose, but... for now it'll do. Well, let's go, Dobby."

\- "Back to Hogwarts!" twittered the elf.

Moments later, the two paintings were empty.

In the quiet office, on the glass shelves that had not been dusted for a long time, the sun was sparkling on a dented medallion. Next to it, in a sleek frame, a young man with messy black hair was holding in his arms a little boy with green eyes just like his.

On the bench behind them, there was a black furry dragon and the swirling flame of the autumn leaves was reflecting in his golden split green orbs.

* * *

**THE END**

* * *

_**Or is it?**_

_**If you already miss them all, wait for "the Shufflers of Light"... coming soon!**_


	31. BONUS - A glance at the following story

**BONUS**

_**A glance at the following story : THE SHUFFLERS OF LIGHT**_

* * *

When the winds were gusting over the cracked white plain, one could almost hear dull voices, as if far beneath the thick layer of snow and ice, ancient giants had been singing a lament.

Once, Terrence had said he imagined them like huge tipsy trolls, toasting with their butterbeer tankards and telling stories of the origins of Time, but Wendy had shuddered at the thought that Muggles drillings could someday disturb these benevolent old folks.

Scorpius, of course, had merely shrugged at the idea of people living underneath floe and gone back to his paperwork.

Albus had said nothing, his forehead leaning against the window, his green eyes lost in the contemplation of the blizzard. Sometimes, a dreamy sigh was heaving from his chest, but he could not explain why.

When there was no storm, the _Shufflers of Light _valley was one of the most glorious places in the world.

Under the vast sapphire skies, the sun glittered on the white velvety slopes and sparkled on the blue ice edges. In the polar coldness reigned a hushed silence, that was not disturbed by the whining of the flying whales or the barking of the firetailed foxes rolling playfully in the snow. In the middle of the plain, the scarlet _Observation Tower_ looked like the pointy hat of a leprechaun or the tip of the _Hogwarts Express' _whistle, with small clouds of smoke gushing from time to time from the silver ducts.

Wendy had done a very nice sketch of that sight, which was pinned in the locker room, just above the dischilblaining machine and Albus wanted to send his parents a copy of it, since pictures gave out nothing of the clarity and beauty of the site on which he was working.

It was almost seven years after the rebellion of the Hebrides.

Harry Potter had become Minister of Magic and although there were still some people complaining, overall Britain wizarding community felt satisfied under his rightful leadership. The _Boy Who Lived_, the war hero, the Auror who had turned to politics, remained a simple and accessible man, whom they knew would never compromise with dark forces.

Ginny was still working for the _Department of Magical Games and Sports_, but she showed active in galas and charity evenings as the worthy wife of the minister. Sometimes came along her daughter Lily ("A beauty!") who had just finished her studies at Hogwarts. Rumor had it the young lady was going for "a career in fashion." But people were not quite sure what that meant.

James, the eldest son of the minister, had failed to the Auror entrance examination for a reason that only Harry Potter, Teddy Lupin and Ron Weasley knew. After this painful experience, James had packed up a bag and gone hitchhiking for over a year. From brooms to flying carpets, in the _Knight Bus_, hot balloons, gondolas, steam trains and ships, he had finally found himself in Sicily, where his natural charm and his clever patter had put him at a key post in the trade with the Cola Clan of fishmen.

Wendy Philips, Terrence Swanson and Scorpius Malfoy were still close friends.

They were the only ones in the world – except for Harry – to know the truth about Albus.

It had been during their seventh year, while in internship in Brazil, that his three friends had (re)discovered Albus' secret, when he had changed into his other self to save Terrence from the bite of a _fer-de-lance_ snake. Wendy had sulked a bit - Scorpius _a lot_ \- but ultimately they had been relieved to learn that Toothless - _Albus had never managed to make them understand it was _not_ the real name of the dragon _\- was still alive.

That may have been why Scorpius had finally yielded to his father and entered the ministry. The Unspeakable he would become after ten years of service to the government could effectively protect the greatest mystery of Britain. For now, after two years in the _Office of Disinformation_, he had asked to be transferred to the South Pole where he served as a liaison officer, which allowed him to keep an eye on both his friend and on a certain Miss Phillips.

The dauntless girl had finally gathered her courage and opposed the future planned for her by the almost invisible businessman to whom she gave the name of father. Encouraged by the old butler Barrie, she had chosen her own destiny. Once she had received her magical mechanical engineer diploma, she had been assigned to the Observation Tower for her first job and if her relationship with her stepmother had not really benefited from it – _Madame swooned just thinking about a young lady of her class with hands full of grease _\- however the distance had helped soothe it.

Several _Quidditch_ teams had made offers to Albus at the end of his studies. They wanted him as a Seeker or a Chaser, and his mother would have wanted him to follow in her footsteps and make a name in the national sport. He had undeniable talent and it was not every day people were quarrelling over a player with such a handicap. Even Harry almost wanted his son to accept, if only for the changes in mentality this could have brought to the still full of prejudices wizarding community. But the second of the Potter children had politely refused. Quietly, without ostentation, as he had always done, he had walked on his own path. After two years of training, he had brilliantly completed his ethologist studies, then had applied to Antarctica and left England to study the behavior of the magical wildlife of the white continent.

Terrence had joined his three friends six months later. He was far from having completed his studies - even though his genius brain put him five or six steps ahead of the other students - but he had already obtained a first cycle license, which allowed him to perform the functions of a healer in _Inlandsis Station_ while doing his third year boarding internship.

And that was how the 'Inseparables of Hogwarts' were now all standing at the ends of the world.

Everything was fine so far.

But things never stayed peaceful long when these four were together.

* * *

_**TO BE CONTINUED...**_

* * *

**_They're 21 years old, now. They have not changed much, yet they're about to find nothing is as it seems._**

**_Terrence, Albus, Wendy and Scorpius are back in _The Shufflers of Light_._**

**_ Meet Pepper the house elf. Learn about Scorpius' lonely years at Hogwarts. Go deep in the depths of Earth and discover the secrets buried there. Face new challenges and old enemies. Come across beautiful landscapes and terrifying creatures. Laugh and cry, crawl under your blankets, hold your breath and watch the four friends grow into true heroes.  
_**

**_Why was Albus called to Antarctica? Will Terrence find his way before it's too late? Can Wendy protect the one she loves? What is Scorpius hiding?  
_**

**_Who are the Shufflers of Light?_**

**_Read the last story of the _Choice Trilogy._ Go back to the beginning and put an end to the journey of the boy who had a dragon's heart._**


End file.
